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Hiotographic 

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D 


D 


D 


a 


D 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I   Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagte 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur^  et/ou  pelliculAe 


□   Cover  title  missing/ 
Letit 


titre  de  couverture  manque 


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I    'y  Pages  damaged/ 

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I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I      I    Only  edition  available/ 


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Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
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obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu4  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

y 

12X 


lex 


aox 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Th«  copy  filmed  bars  hat  bean  reproduced  tbanka 
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BibliotbAque  nationala  du  Quebec 


L'exemplaire  filmi  flit  raproduit  grice  A  la 
gAn^roaltA  da: 

BIbliothdqua  nationala  du  Quebec 


The  Imagaa  appearing  hare  are  the  beat  quality 
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aion,  or  the  bacic  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
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first  page  with  a  printed  or  llluatrated  Impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  laat  page  with  a  printed 
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The  laat  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  aymbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


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da  la  nattetA  de  I'exempiaira  fiim6.  et  en 
conformit6  avac  lea  conditiona  du  contrat  da 
fllmage. 

Lea  axemplalraa  origlnaux  dont  ia  couvartura  an 
papier  eat  ImprimAa  aont  fiim6s  an  commenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  aoit  par  ia 
darnlAre  page  qui  comporta  une  empreinte 
d'impreaaion  ou  d'iiluatration,  soit  par  ia  second 
plat,  aalon  le  caa.  Toua  las  autras  axempiairas 
origlnaux  aont  fiimfo  an  commanpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporta  una  empreinte 
d'impreaaion  ou  d'iiluatration  at  an  terminant  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporta  una  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dea  aymbolaa  auivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniAre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
caa:  le  aymbola  »►  aignifia  "A  SUiVRE",  la 
aymbola  V  aignifia  "FIN". 


Mapa,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratioa.  Thoae  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  expoaura  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framea  as 
required.  The  following  diagrama  illustrate  the 
method: 


Lea  cartas,  planch^?  tableaux,  etc..  pauvent  Atre 
filmte  A  dea  taux  da  reduction  diff Arants. 
Loraqua  la  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  ciichA,  II  est  filmA  d  partir 
.  da  I'angia  aupAriaur  gauche,  da  gauche  d  droite, 
^et  de  haut  an  bas,  an  prenant  la  nombre 
-^d'imagea  nAcassaira.  Las  diagrammea  auivants 
iilustrant  la  mAthoda. 


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CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


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A  SKETCH  OF  ITS 


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ii'Vi,.'»>_ 


HENRY  DE  COURCY,  - 

AXTTHOB  OF  ^^LE8  S£BVANTES  DB  DIST7  EN  ^ANADA,^'  BTQL 


■•^'-i-.-rUt****':-— '^V'.'^"->-'^?*" 


'  TRANSLATED  AKD  BNLAnOSD 

BY  JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA, 

ATTTHOR  OF  THE  "  DIGIOOVSBT  AND  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  HIBSISSIPFI,''   "  HISTOBT 
OF  THE  CATHOLIC  MISSIONS,"  ETC.,  AND  MEMBER  OF  THB  N.  T.,  MASS., 


U^iXf'itOf.K^^  V^**  HierORIOAL'SOCJET^ES,   ^ 


.1:^' 


.:-i'* 


"'^-W' 


:*i:  •'«!'• 


NEW  YORK: 
EDWARD   DUNIGAN   AND   BROTHER 

(JAMES  B.  KIRKEE,)  „.,..__ 

161    FULTON- STREET. 
1866. 


"tm. 


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Entered  according  to  Act  of  Oongreas,  in  the  year  1868, 

Bt  JAMES  B.  EIBEEB, 

In  the  CletK'a  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  Ibr  the  Soathem 


District  of  New  York. 


•  •    •  •    . 

•  *    •  .*  . 
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B.  0.  v^LSNTCni, 

•nSBOTTPIR  AND  KU0TROTTPI8T, 
11  Dateh-rt,,  oor.  Volton.  N.  Y. 


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1  »;,...    .„,    „ 


X  SON   EXCELLENCE 

MONSEIGNEUK   CAJETAN   BEDINI, 

Archevique  de  Thibet,  Nonce  Ajpottdique,  Sfc.,  ifc. 


/' 


Monseionxub: 

L'int^rdt  que  vous  daignez  prendre  d  I'E^lise  d'Am^rique  m'enoou* 
rage  k  demander  d.  Votre  Excellence  la  permission  de  lui  dSdier  mes 
"  Easais  sur  I'Histoire  de  la  Religion  Catholiqae  auz  Etats-Unis."  Pen- 
dant voire  memorable  s^jour  dans  la  grande  B^publique,  vous  vous  6tes 
rendu  compte  de  L'6tat  present  des  diocdses  aveo  autant  de  promptitude 
que  de  hauteur  de  vues.  Mais  la  multiplicity  de  tos  occupations  et 
I'importance  de  la  mission  que  vous  avait  confine  Sa  SaintetS  ont  pu 
s'opposer  4  ce  que  les  details  du  passS  vous  devinssent  aussi  com- 
plStement  familiers.  tPose  done  esp^rer  que  mon  simple  r6cit  augmen- 
tera  encore  vos  predilections  pour  I'Eglise  si  jeune  et  d4j4  si  floriesante 
des  Etats-IJnis. 

Je  me  suis  proposS  d'^crirf  Vhistoire  suocincte  de  cette  Eglise  dans 
ses  commencemente,  ses  ^preuves,  ses  progrds  et  ses  esp^rances.  Ce- 
pendant  malgr^  mes  efforts,  o'est  nn  livre  qui  restera  encore  k  faire, 
tant  qu'nne  plume  plus  sainte  et  plus  exp6riment6e  ne  s'exercera  pas 


36399 


DEDICATION. 


rar  un  sujet  si  important  Mais  jusqu'd  ce  joar  les  Prelates  qui  ont 
gouvernd  oette  partie  de  la  chr6tient^,  ou  lea  miAsionairea  qui  les  ont 
seoond^s,  n'ont  pas  connu  asaez  de  loisirs  pour  d^laiaaer  les  aoina  im- 
p^rieux  du  saint  ministSre.  lis  aocomplissent  beaucoup,  mais  ^criveut 
peu  ;  et  leur  laborieux  silence  aurait  le  Ciel  pour  seul  t^moin  de  leurs 
travaux,  oomme  il  doit  dire  leur  seule  recompense,  si  I'un  des  fiddles 
Evangelises  par  leur  zdle  ne  pabliait  pas  oe  qn'il  a  6tudi6,  ce  qu'U  a  en- 
tendu  et  ce  qu'il  a  vu,  pour  la  plus  grando  gloire  de  Dier^ 

^  En  quittant  les  Etats-Unis,  Votre  Excellence  nous  laiasait  un  pieux 
souvenir  de  sa  munificence  et  de  sa  devotion  en  se  declarant  Sdifii  et 
reconnaissant.  O'est  bien  plutdt  aux  Catholiques  des  Etats-Unis  de  se 
proclamer  idifiia  de  vos  vertus  et  reconnaitaanta  de  vos  bienfaits ;  et 
rhommage  que  je  vous  pr6sente,  en  commnn  avec  le  savant  Ecrivain 
Mr.  John  G,  Shea,  qui  s'est  complaisamment  associ^  4  mon  travail,  est  un 
faible  tribut  de  notre  mutuelle  gratitude,  et  de  notre  complet  devoue- 
ment  au  Saint  Sidge  Apostolique. 

Daignez  agr^er  I'assurance  des  sentiments  de  haute  v€n6ration  avec 
lesquelles  nous  avons  Thonneur  d'dtre, 
Monseigneur, 

,-  De  Votre  Excellence, 

'  Le  trds  humbles  et  trds 

.   ,  Obeissants  serviteurs, 

„  ,.  , ,,  H.  DB  OODBOT  DE  LaBOOHK-H^ON. 

John  Gilhabt  Shejl 


Kmr  YoBX,  8  Mai,  Jonr  de  la  Fdte  de  rinyentioa  do  la 
Bainte  Croix,  et  an  de  Grace  185& 


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5 


<',.     :    '.:i/.^. 


PREFACE. 


,<!•■   /:.:'? 


.,..4*. 


The  want  of  any  regular  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
the  United  States  has  led  to  many  erroneous  ideas  here  and 
elsewhere.  To  give  the  public  in  France  some  definite  idea  of 
the  progress  of  Catholicity  in  a  country  in  which  they  take  so 
deep  an  interest,  Mr.  De  Courcy  began,  some  time  since,  a  se- 
sies  of  sketches  in  the  "  Ami  de  la  Religion"  and  other  French 
periodicals.  In  these  I  aided  him  with  all  the  information  in 
my  hands;  and  deeming  his  sketches  calculated  to  do  good 
among  ourselves,  have  translated  them,  occasionally  adding  facts 
or  details  which  afterwards  came  to  our  knowledge.  Such  is 
the  volume  now  submitted  to  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States :  a  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  States 
of  Maryland,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  Jer- 
sey. From  the  close  friendship  which  united  us,  and  'ur  daily 
intercourse  during  the  progress  of  the  work,  it  would  re  diflS- 
oult  now  for  me  to  state  what  portions  are  exclusively  mine ; 
yet,  as  the  ill  health  of  Mr.  De  Courct  compelled  him  for  a 
time  to  suspend  his  labors,  the  part  concerning  New  York,  ex- 
cept where  it  relates  to  the  French  and  Canadian  element,  may 
be  considered  as  chiefly  from  my  pen. 

Mr.  De  Courcy,  though  a  native  of  France,  is  descended  from 
ofiScers  who,  in  the  French  navy,  helped  to  humble  the  power 
of  England  on  the  seas  during  our  Revolution ;  and  at  the  same 
time,  from  the  oldest  Canadian  family :  thus  claiming  kindred 
with  Iberville,  the  heroic  founder  of  Louisiana ;  with  Juchereau, 
the  pioneer  of  Indiana;   St.  Denis,  the  chivalrous  explorer  of 


/ 


"^^m 


6 


PREFACE. 


Texas ;  and  with  almost  every  name  of  eminence  in  the  annals 
of  French  America.  His  interest,  then,  in  the  country  is  natural; 
and,  even  without  this  tie,  every  Frenchman  must  feel  a  pride  in 
the  part  which  the  clergy  of  his  country  haye  taken  in  giving  our 
Church  its  present  form,  and  well  might  seek  to  portray  it  to  his 
countrymen ;  nor  need  we  fear  that  he  will  df aw  an  exaggerated 
picture.  The  profoundest  t|iinker  among  us,  a  man,  too,  who  has 
never  been  a  flatterer,  Dr.'BaowNSON,  has  said,  "The  Church 
in  the  United  States  has,  to  a  great  extent,  been  founded  and 
built  up  by  French  bishops  and  clergy ;  and  hardly  could  the 
monuments  of  Catholic  zeal  and  piety,  becoming  so  numerous 
in  the  land,  have  been  erected  without  the  liberal  contributions 
of  our  brethren  in  France.  The  revival  of  Catholicity  in  Eng- 
land dates  from  the  presence  and  labors  of  the  French  clergy, 
driven  from  their  own  country  by  the  temporary  ascendency  of 
the  Jacobins.  Always  must  English  and  American  Catholics 
cherish  the  warmest  gratitude  to  Catholic  France,  to  whom  we, 
as  an  American  cit^'^en,  owe  another  debt ;  for  it  was  by  her  aid, 
her  treasures,  and  her  blood,  that  we  were  enabled  to  gain  na- 
tional independence,  and  to  take  a  place  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  If  any  foreigner  has  a  special  right  to  feel  himself  at 
home  in  these  United  States,  it  is  the  Catholic  Frenchman." 

Happy  to  have  aided  in  giving  the  Catholic  public  a  work 
which  does  full  justice  to  this  element,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
gives  them  a  compendious  history  of  the  Church  from  its  foun- 
dation under  the  happj  auspices  of  Maryland  toleration,  through 
the  dark  ages  of  colonial  bigotry,  to  our  own  freer  time,  when 
the  serene  sky  is  darkened  at  times  by  the  hurricanes  of  prejudice 
and  error — I  submit  this  labor,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  to  the 
Holy  Father  and  my  fellow-adherents  of  the  Apostolic  See. 

John  Gilmary  Shka. 
Mat  8, 1866. 


p. 


CONTENTS. 

DnioATioir Pam   tU 

Fkitaoi ▼ 

Chaftxb  I. — ^Thi  Eablt  Indian  Misuonb. 

MlMlona  of  the  Norwegluis  in  the  anto-Colnmbian  timM— Bputoh  mtMlont  in  Florida, 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  OalUbrnla— French  mlaalona  among  the  Indiana  in  If  aina, 
New  York,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  the  Talley  of  the  Miasisalppi 11 

Ohat.  II — ^Thu  Oolonial  ChOIiOH. 

Maryland— Settled  by  Gatholios— Their  persecntion— Their  emancipation— From  tha 
year  1684  to  1774 » 

Chap.  III. — Thk  Ohokoh  in  thx'  Rkpublio. 

Maryland— Father  John  Carroll—How  the  United  States  granted  liberty  of  oonseienoe 
to  the  OathoUcs— Mission  of  Father  Carroll  to  Canada 36 

Ohap.  IV. — The  Ohvboh  dubino  ths  Rivolution. 
Father  Carroll  and  Father  Floqaet— Father  Carroll  at  Bock  Creek 47 

Chaf.  V. — The  OnimoH  ix  thk  RKPOBua 
Miryland  (177ft-1790)— Negotiations  for  the  erection  of  an  Episcopal  Bee 64 

Chap.  yi--DiooB8x  of  Baltikobx. 

Consecration  of  Bishop  Carroll— Jesuit  College  at  Georgetown— BalpiUan  Seminary  at 
Baltimore— The  French  clergy  in  the  United  States— Bishop  Neale  ooa^Jator— Beor- 
ganizatlon  of  the  Sodety  of  Jesns— Importance  of  French  immigration 68 

Chap.  YII. — ^The  Chuboh  in  Mabtland. 

The  Carmelite*— Poor  Clares— Yisltation  nans— Sisters  of  Charity— Baltimore  an  ecele* 
siastical  province  with  four  safflragans— Death  of  Archbishop  Carroll 76 

Chap.  VIIL — Diocese  of  Baltuiobb.     (1815-1828.) 

Most  BcT.  Leonard  Neale,  second  Archbishop— Most  Bot.  Ambrose  Mar^chal,  third 
Archbishop— DiflScultles  of  bis  administration— Progress  of  Catholicity— Bishops  ap« 
pointed  for  New  Orleans,  Charleston,  Bichmond,  and  Cincinnati— Labors  of  the  Snl- 
pltians— Death  of  Archbishop  Mar^chal M 


1 1 


CONTENTS. 


Chap.  IX. — Diocesk  or  Baltimori.    (1828-1823.) 

Moat  Rev.  James  Whitfield,  fourth  Archbishop  of  Bnltlmore— The  Oblates  of  St.  Frtncet 
and  the  colored  Catholics— The  Association  fbr  the  Propagation  of  ihe  Faith  and  tha 
Leopoldlne  Society— First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  a  retrospect  on  pre- 
vious  synods  of  the  clergy , 


r 


Chap.  X.— DioceSI  or^lBALTiifORK.    (1829-1884.) 

Beoond  Provlnolal  Council— Decrees  aa  to  the  election  of  bishops — Decrees  for  Qonflding 
to  the  Jesuits  the  Negroes  and  Indians— The  colony  of  Liberia  and  BIsL^p  Barron— 
The  Gannellteft— Liberality  of  Archbisbop  Wbltflvld— His  character  and  death. . .  129 

Chap.  XI. — ^Diooxsb  of  Baltihore.    (1884-1840.) 

Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  D.  D.,  fifth  Archbishop  of  Baltimore— The  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools— The  Redemptorlsts— The  German  Catholics— The  Lazarists— Third 
Council  of  Baltimore— New  Episcopal  Bees— Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore— Bishop 
Forbln-Janson  in  America— Dioceses  of  Richmond  and  Wheeling,  and  a  glance  at  re- 
Ugion  in  Virginia 146 

■^    .  .        Chap.  XII. — Diocese  of  Baltimore.     (1840-1846.) 

Decrees  as  to  ecclesiastical  property— Fifth  Council  of  Baltimore— Decrees  against  di- 
vorce and  mixed  marriages— Subdivision  of  the  dioceses— Sixth  Council  of  Baltimore  * 
—Decree  as  to  the  Immaculate  Conception— Labors  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  tj||^ 
United  States. VtSif*) 

Chap.  XIII^'^'i'DiooESE  of  Baltimore.    (1846-1852.) 

Election  of  Pins  IX.— Popularity  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  in  the  United  States— Peter's 
Pence— Seventh  Council  of  Baltimore— Division  of  the  United  States  into  six  ecclesi- 
astical provinces— Death  of  Archbishop  Eccleston— Most  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick, 
sixth  Archbishop  of  Baltimore— National  Council  of  Baltimore  and  new  Episcopal 
B««fc 190 


Chap.  XIV. — ^Pennsylvania.    (1680-1810.) 

First  missions  at  Philadelphia,  Ooshenhoppen,  Conewago,  Lancaster  —  Influence  of 
French  intervention  fn  securing  respect  uid  toleration  for  Catholicity— The  Augus- 
tinians  in  Pennsylvania— The  Franciscans — Schism  in  the  Oerman  Church  of  the 
Holy  Trinity— Foundation  of  the  episcopal  See  of  Philadelphia 207 

Chap.  XV. — Diocese  of  Philadelphia.    (1810-1834.) 

The  Rt  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  first  bishop— Very  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth,  administrator— 
Rt  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  second  bishop— Schism  of  St  Mary's  Chuirch— Very  Rev. 
William  Mathews,  administrator- Rt  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  coa^utor,  then  third 
bishop- Religious  condition  of  the  diocese  in  1884 22d 

Chap.  XVI— Diocese  of  Philadelphia.    (1883-1844.) 

Oommenoement  and  progress  of  the  anti-Catholic  agitation— Various  manceavres  of  the 
fanatics— The  Native  party— The  Philadelphia  riots 240 


CONTENTS. 


Cbaf.  XVn.— Diooisb  or  Piiiladilphia.     (1844-1866.) 

Ptriston  of  the  dlooMW— 8Ut«  of  Del«war»— The  Ladlet  of  th«  Sacred  Heart— The  8U< 
ters  of  the  Yleitatlon— The  Slstera  of  Notre  Dame— Father  Virgil  Barber  and  hla 
Aunlly— Works  cf  Bishop  F.  P.  Kenrick— His  translation  to  the  metropolitan  See  of 
Baltimore— Rt  Ber.  John  N.  Neumann,  fourth  Bishop  of  Philadolphia. 208 


^^h.. 


Chap.  XVIIL— Pinnstlvania.    (1760-1840.) 


Dlooeae  of  Pittsburg- The  Recollects  at  Fort  Duquesne— The  Ber.  Father  Brauera— 
Sketch  of  Prince  Demetrius  OalUtzin 278 

Chap.  XIX. — Diooksb  or  PirrsBDao — Diooesi  or  Erik.    (1*792-1856.) 

The  Abb6  Flaget  at  Pittsburg— The  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  and  Charles  B.  Maguire— The 
Poor  Glares— The  Colony  of  Asylum — The  Chevalier  John  Keating — Colony  of  Har- 
man  Bottom— Episcopate  of  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connor— Sisters  of  Mercy— The 
Brothers  of  the  Presentation- The  Franciscan  Brothers— The  Benedictines— Pav'  '<• 
Ists— Early  missions  at  Erie— Bish<^  Flaget— The  present  state  of  the  diocese — itie 
Benedictine  nuns— Retrospect 268 

Chap.  XX— State  OF  Nkw  YoEK.    (1642-1708.) 

Missions  among  the  Iroquois— Father  Joguos — Father  Bressani— Father  Le  Mqyne— 
Emigration  of  Ohristlans  to  Canada — Close  of  the  Jesuit  missions  In  New  York. .  814 


Ji^ 


Chap.  XXL— Diooesz  of  New  York.    (1640-1760.)  - 


The  Dutch— The  English  occupation  and  Governor  Dongan— First  Colonial  Assembly 
in  1688— Jesuits  at  New  York- Revolution,  and  persecution  of  the  Catholics— Pre- 
tended negro  plot,  and  execution  of  the  Rev.  John  Ury. 884 

Chap.  XXIL— State  of  New  York.    (1776-1786.) 

Constitution  of  the  State— The  English  Party  and  Protestantism- Commencement  of 
Catholic  worship  In  the  city  of  New  York— 8t  Peter's  Church— Father  Whelan  and 
Father  Nugent— A  trustee  of  St  Peter's  in  1786 845 

Chap.  XXIII. —State  and  Diocese  of  Neiv  York.    (1787-1818.) 

Father  O'Brien  and  the  yellow  fever  In  New  York- The  negro,  Peter  Toussaint — The 

Abb^  Sibourg — Fathers  Kohlmann  and  Fenwick — Erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at 

New  York— Rt  Rev.  Luke  Conoanen,  first  bishop- His  death  at  Naples — Father 

Benedict  Fenwick,  administrator — ^The  New  York  Literary  Institution — Father  Fen- 

I  wick  and  Thomas  Paine— Father  Kohlmann  and  the  secrecy  of  the  confessional. .  855 


Chap.  XXIV.— -Diocese  of  New  York.    (1816-1842.)      ,  ,^  ? 

Right  Rev.  John  Connolly,  second  Bishop  of  New  York— Condition  of  the  diocese — 
Sketch  of  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Malou— Bishop  Connolly's  first  acts— His  clergy— The  Rev. 
Mr.  Taylor,  and  his  ambitious  designs— Conversions— The  Rev.  John  Richard- Spread 

1* 


t0 


CONTENTS. 


of  Catholicity— Death  of  Bishop  Connolly— Very  Eev.  John  Power,  Administrator- 
Bight  Bev.  John  Dubol^  third  Bishop  of  New  York— Tisitation  of  his  diocese— His 
labors  for  the  cause  of  edncation— Controversies  with  the  Protestants — ^Yery  Rev. 
Felix  Varela^Bev.  Thomas  C.  Levins— Difflcalties  with  trustees— German  immigra- 
tion—Conversion of  Bev.  Maximilian  CErtel— Appointment  of  a  Coadjutor— Death  of 
Bishop  Dubois. 888 

Chap.  XXV.—Dioome  of  New  York.    (1838-1866.) 

Bight  Bev.  John  Hughes,  Coadjutor  and  then  Bishop  of  New  York— He  overthrows 
trosteelsm— The  school  question — Bishop  Hughes  before  the  Common  Council— 8t 
John's  College— The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Madame  Oallltzin— The  Re> 
demptorists— The  Tractarian  movement,  and  the  conversions  resulting  from  it — 
The  French  Church  and  the  Bishop  of  Nancy— Appointment  of  Right  Rev.  John 
McCloskey  as  Coadjutor- The  Sisters  of  Mercy— Beorganization  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity — Division  of  the  diocese — Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools — Progress  of 
Catholicity  in  other  parts  of  the  diocese — ^New  York  erected  Into  an  archlepiscopal 
Bee— Erection  of  the  Sees  of  Brooklyn  and  Newark — First  Provincial  Council  of  New 
York— The  Church  Property  Bill  and  the  discussion  with  Senator  Brooks— Bet- 
rospeot 410 


Obap.  XXVI. — DiooESKS  OF  Albany,  Buffalo,  Brooklyn,  and  Newark. 

Diocese  of  Albany— Early  Catholic  afTairs- Church  and  Mission  of  the  Presentation  at 
Ogdensburg— St  Begis— Chaplains  at  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point— Bev.  Mr.  de  la 
Yailnidre  and  his  church  on  Lake  Champlain — Church  at  Albany— Early  pastors — 
Increase  of  Catholicity— Appointment  of  Bt.  Bov.  John  McCloskey  as  first  bishop— 
His  administration— Institutions— Religicus  Orders— Jesuits— Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart — Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools. 

Diocese  of  Buffalo — French  chcplains  at  Fort  Niagara— Early  Catholic  matters— Ap- 
pointment of  the  Bt.  Bev.  John  Timon  as  bishop — ^The  Jesuits,  Bedemptorists,  Fran- 
ciscans, Christian  Brothers,  and  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart— Sisters  of  Charity,  Sis- 
ters of  St  Joseph,  Sisters  of  St  Bridget  and  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity- State  of  the 
diocese. 

Diocese  of  Brooklyn— Catholicity  on  Long  Island— First  church  in  Brooklyn— Progress 
— ^Bt  Bev.  John  Loughlin  first  bishop — Visitation  Nuns— Sisters  of  Charity— Sisters 
of  Mercy — Dominican  Sisters. 

t)ioce8e  of  Newark — Catholicity  in  New  Jersey—Its  progress— Appointment  of  Et  Bev. 
James  R.  Bayley,  first  bishop— Beton  Hall 461 


Ce..?.  XXVIL     (1853,  1864.) 

Mission  of  the  Nuncio,  the  Most  Bev.  Archbishop  Bedlnl— His  arrival— Plot  of  the 
Italians— Thehr  slanders— Beftitation— Death  of  Bassi-Beaction —Violence  of  the 
Germans— Besult  of  his  mission 499 

Chap.  XXVIII.     (1854-1856.)  ^ 

Reaction  against  the  Catholics— Organization  of  the  Know-Nothings 620 

,  Conclusion 681 

APPENDIX. 589 


n 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE    EARLx     INDIAN   MISSIONS. 


'  Et.  Rev. 
..  451 


..  620 
..  681 
....  589 


Missions  of  the  Norwegians  In  the  ante>Colamblan  times— Spanish  missions  in  Florida, 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  Oalifornia— French  missions  among  the  Indians  in  Maine, 
New  Torli,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  the  valley  of  the  Mlssiii'sippL 

The  missionary  spirit  is  inherent  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  it 
dates  fix)m  the  moment  when  our  Lord  said  to  his  apostles,  "Go 
and  teach  all  nations."  Before  St.  Paul  had  left  .Asia  Minor, 
missionaries  had  already  penetrated  to  Italy  and  Spain,  and  from 
their  day  to  our  own,  each  succeeding  age  has  produced  her 
heroes,  devoting  their  lives  to  the  greatest  of  human  enterprises 
— ^the  conversion  of  souls.  When  the  still  pagan  Northmen  dis- 
covered Iceland  in  the  eighth  century  of  our  present  era,  they 
found  on  the  shore  crosses,  bells,  and  sacred  vessels  of  Irish  work- 
manship. The  island  had  therefore  hien  visited  by  Catholic 
missionaries,  and  the  Irish  clergy  may  with  justice  lay  claim  to 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

The  Northmen,  after  founding  a  colony  in  Iceland,  pushed 
their  discovery  westward,  and  soon  discovered  a  part  of  the  west- 
ern continent,  to  which,  from  the  agreeable  verdure  with  which 
it  was  covered,  they  gave  the  name  of  Greenland.  When  these 
hardy  explorers  returned  to  Norway,  they  found  the  idols  of 


Jffc 


12 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Scandinavia  hurkd  to  the  dust.  The  king  had  embraced  the 
true  faith,  and  the  whole  people  had  renounced  paganism.  A 
missionary  set  sail  in  the  first  vessel  that  steered  towards  the  new- 
found land,  and  ere  long  the  little  colony  was  Catholic.  Iceland 
and  Greenland  soon  had  their  churches,  their  convents,  their 
bishops,  their  colleges,  their  libraries,  their  apcitolic  men.  The 
explorers  Beom  and  Leif  having  coasted  southerly  along  the 
Atlantic  shore  towards  the  bays  where  the  countless  spires  of  Bos- 
ton and  New  York  now  tower,  missionaries  immediately  ofiered 
to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  savage  nations  of  the  South ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  in  1120  Bishop  Eric  visited  in  person  Vin- 
land,  or  the  land  of  vines.  The  colonies  of  the  Northmen  on  the 
west  coast  of  Greenland  continued  to  flourish  till  1406,  when 
the  seventeenth  and  last  Bishop  of  Garda  was  sent  from  Norway: 
those  on  the  eastern  coast  subsisted  till  1540,  when  they  were 
destroyed  by  a  physical  revolution  which  accumulated  the  ice  in 
that  zone  from  the  60th  degree  of  latitude.  Thus,  a  focus  of 
Christianity  not  only  long  existed  in  Greenland,  but  from  it  rays 
of  faith  momentarily  illumined  part  of  Ine  territory  now  em- 
braced in  the  United  States,  to  leave  it  sunk  in  darkness  for  some 
centuries  more. 

But  the  great  Columbus,  by  discovering  another  part  of 
America,  soon  drew  the  attention  of  Europe  to  the  New  World, 
and  the  navigators  of  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  and  England  ex- 
plored it  in  every  direction.  All  were  animated  by  the  same 
spirit,  and,  despite  national  jealousy,  actuated  by  the  same  motive. 
The  adventurer,  the  soldier,  and  the  priest  always  landed  together ; 
and  the  proclamation  made  to  the  natives  by  the  Spaniards  bears 
these  remarkable  words:  "  The  Church :  the  Queen  and  Sovereign 
of  the  World."  The  Protestant  citizens  of  the  United  States 
boast  of  the  Puritan  settlement  in  New  England  as  the  cradle 
oi'  their  race :  but  long  before  these  separatists  landed  at  Plymouth 
in  1620,  and  while  the  English  settlers  hugged  the  Atlantic  shore, 


|/.'n 


// 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


too  indifferent  to  jnstruct  in  Christianity  the  Indians  whose  hunt- 
ing grounds  they  had  usurped,  other  portions  of  the  continent, 
and  even  of  our  territory,  were  evangelized  from  north  to  south 
and  from  east  to  west.  These  missions  are  divided  into  three 
veiy  distinct  classes :  the  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  and  Jesuits  o! 
Spain  share  between  them  the  south  from  Florida  to  California ; 
the  Recollects  and  Jesuits  of  France  traverse  the  country  in  every 
direction  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific,  and  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Hudson's  Bay ;  and 
finally,  the  English  Jesuits  plant  the  Cross  for  a  time  amid  the 
tribes  of  Maryland,  during  the  short  period  of  Catholic  supremacy 
in  that  colony.      •     ^    -.  >■:  -"-'•      -       ■ 

The  Spaniards  were  the  first  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  terri- 
tory now  actually  comprised  in  the  United  States.  Sebastian 
Cabot  had,  indeed,  under  the  flag  of  England,  explored  the  At- 
lantic shore  in  1497,  but  Ponce  de  Leon  was  the  f  rst  to  land 
with  a  view  of  conquest.  From  1512,  the  date  of  the  discovery 
of  Florida,  numerous  expeditions  succeeded  one  another,  and  all 
were  attended  by  missionaries ;  but  the  savage  inhabitants  offered 
their  invaders  a  more  effectual  resistance  than  the  natives  of  His- 
paniola  or  the  sovereigns  of  Mexico.  In  Florida  the  Spaniards 
met  disaster  after  disaster,  and  from  1512  to  1542,  Leon,  Cor- 
dova, Ayllon,  Narvaez,  and  Soto,  successively,  with  most  of  their 
forces,  perished  in  Florida  or  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Of 
the  expedition  of  Narvaez,  Cabeza  de  Vaca  escaped  almost  alone, 
and  after  almost  incredible  hardship  and  danger,  pushed  through 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  thus  acquiring  the 
glory  of  having  first  traversed  North  America  from  east  to  west. 
He  was  hospitably  received  by  the  Spaniards  of  Mexico  at  their 
outposts  in  Sonora,  and  there  his  account  inflamed  the  zeal  of 
Friar  Mark,  of  Nice,  who  in  1539  resolved  to  bear  the  Cross  to 
the  inland  tribes.  His  religious  enterprise  failed,  but  his  attempt 
remains  as  the  hardiest  exploration  yet  attempted  of  unknown 


Wxifi 


14 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


(1 


regions.  In  1642  another  expedition  left  Mexico,  commanded  by 
Ooronado,  and  turned  towards  the  northeast.  After  reaching  the 
head-waters  of  the  Arkansas,  he  turned  back  to  the  Bio  Grande, 
in  the  present  diocese  of  Santa  F6.  Here  the  commander  re- 
solved to  return  to  Mexico,  but  such  was  not  the  idea  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan missionaries  in  his  party.  They  had  come  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  and  would  not  retreat  from  the  field  they  had  chosen. 
They  accordingly  allowed  their  companions  to  depart,  and  while 
Coronado  and  his  soldiers  resumed  the  route  to  Mexico,  Father 
Padilla  and  Brother  John  of  the  Cross  prostrated  themselves  to 
offer  huihbly  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  their  lives  for  the  salvation  of 
the  Indians.  Their  offer  was  accepted,  and  v»hile  on  their  way  to 
the  town  of  Quivira,  they  were  both  pierced  with  arrows,  victims 
of  their  charitable  devotedness.  Such  are  the  first  martyrs  of  the 
Church  in  the  United  States,  and  their  death  is  only  fifty  years 
subsequent  to. the  discovery  of  the  New  World  by  Columbus. 

After  an  interval  of  forty  years,  the  Franciscans  penetrated  into 
New  Mexico,  which  now  forms  the  diocese  of  Santa  F6.  Many 
sank  beneath  the  Indian  torture,  but  their  places  were  filled  up  by 
new  missionaries,  and  their  labors  resulted  in  the  conversion  of 
whole  tribes.  Before  the  English  had  formed  a  single  settlement, 
either  in  Virginia  or  New  England,  all  the  tribes  on  the  Rio 
Grande  were  converted  and  civilized ;  their  towns,  still  remarkable 
for  their  peculiar  structure,  were  decorated  with  churches  and 
public  edifices,  which  superficial  travellers  in  our  day  ascribe  to 
the  everlasting  Aztecs.  In  the  next  century  the  incursions  of  the 
fierce  nations  of  the  plains,  the  wild  Apache  and  the  daring  Na- 
vajo, destroyed  most  of  these  towns :  the  weakness  of  the  Spanish 
government  allowed  the  ruins  to  extend ;  but  the  inhabitants  are 
still  Catholic,  and  are  now  the  object  of  a  spiritual  regeneration. 
New  Mexico  having  been  conquered  by  the  United  States  in 
1845,  the  Holy  See  was  enabled  to  exercise  jurisdiction  without 
embarrassment ;  and  a  bishop — the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Lamy,  a  French- 


//., 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


15 


man  by  birth — aided  by  several  clergymen  of  his  own  land,  gov- 
erns the  diocese  of  Santa  F6,  where  he  has  already  revived  the 
faith,  restored  discipline,  and  repaired  many  of  the  devastations 
of  years. 

While  the  children  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  were  thus  in  the 
sixteenth  century  carrying  on  the  spiritual  conquest  of  New  Mex- 
ico, the  Dominicans  pursued  their  missions  in  Florida,  though  not 
without  constant  persecution.  Thej^^yg^jall  to  their  aid  the 
Jesuits,  then  yield  the  field  liyfTiTi  FiiMtiiuiMSDwtLl  these  three 
religious  orders  bedew  with 
embraced  in  the  dioceses  of 
ardent  zeal  of  several  generati 
pense,  and  the  natives  of  Florida 
of  neophytes  gathered  around 
works  were  translatted  and  printed  in  the 
the  Doctrina  Cristiana  of  Parej^,  in  Timuquana,  is  the  oldest 
published  work  in  any  dialect  of  the  natives  of  the  United  States. 
The  convent  of  St.  Helena,  in  the  city  of  St.  Augustine,  became 
the  centre  whence  the  Franciscans  spread  in  every  direction,  even 
to  the  extremities  of  the  peninsula  and  among  the  Appalachian 
clans.  The  faith  prospered  among  these  tribes,  and  the  cross 
towered  in  every  Indian  village,  till  the  increasing  English  colony 
of  Carolina  brought  war  into  these  peaceful  realms.  In  1703  the 
valley  of  the  Appalachicola  was  ravaged  by  an  armed  body  of  cov- 
etous fanatics ;  the  Indian  towns  were  destroyed ;  the  missiona- 
ries slaughtered,  and  their  forest  children,  their  neophytes,  sharing 
their  fate,  or,  still  more  unfortunate,  being  hurried  away  and  sold 
as  slaves  in  the  English  West  Indies.  Fifty  years  after,  the  whole 
colony  of  Florida  fell  into  the  hands  of  England :  the  missions 
were  destroyed,  the  Indians  dispersed,  and  St.  Helena,  the  con- 
vent whence  Christianity  had  radiated  over  the  peninsula,  became 
a  barrack,  and  such  is  that  venerable  monastery  in  our  own  days. 
Driven  from  their  villages  and  fields,  which  the  English  seized, 


./ 


16 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


w 


I  I 


the  unhappy  Floridians  were  forced  to  wander  in  the  wilderness 
and  resume  the  nomadic  life  of  barbarism,  from  which  Christi- 
anity had  reclaimed  them.  Buried  in  their  pathless  everglades, 
without  spiritual  guides,  they  took  the  name  of  Seminoles,  which 
in  their  own  language  means  Wanderers,  and  have  gradually  lost 
the  faith,  and  have  become  the  scourge  of  the  whites.  In  vain 
have  the  English  and  our  government  since,  by  long  and  expen- 
sive wars,  endeavored  to  expel  them.  Under  Jackson's  policy, 
the  government  attem|)ted  to  deport  them  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
as  well  as  most  of  the  other  tribes  ;  but  the  Seminoles,  so  gentle 
under  the  paternal  care  of  the  Franciscans,  had  become  ungovern- 
able when  their  uncultivated  nature  was  no  longer  under  the 
c^ieck  of  religion.  The  Florida  war,  which  cost  the  United  States 
twenty*  thousand  meq^and  forty  million  dollars,  and  lasted  from 
1835  to  1842,  f,Voauced  no  result.  The  Seminoles  do  not  num- 
ber over  a  thousand,  yet  diplomacy  and  force,  promises  and 
threats,  alike  fail  to  draw  them  from  their  native  land.  Their  chief- 
tain, Billy  Bowlegs,  is  the  terror  of  the  frontier,  and  the  Ameri- 
can people  held  in  check  by  a  handful  of  Indians  will  thus  long 
atone  for  the  iniquity  of  their  fathers.  But  the  restoration  of  the 
CathoUc  missions,  which  began  with  the  peace  of  Europe  in  1814, 
and  to  the  success  of  which  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  has  so  powerfully  contributed,  has  been  felt  in  Florida 
as  in  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  Bishop  of  Mobile  is  a  native  of 
France,  and  the  mission  of  St.  Augustine  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
Fathers  of  Mercy,  of  whom  Father  Rauzan  was  the  venerably 
founder. 

■  California,  which  now  forms  the  ecclesiastical  province  of  San 
Francisco,  was  also  evangelized  in  the  time  of  the  Spaniards  :  the 
flourishing  missions  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  peninsula  of  California 
do  not,  however,  fall  within  our  limits,  as  they  existed  on  a  terri- 
tory still  subject  to  Mexico.  ....  '■' 
Upper  California,  conquered  by  the  United  States  in  1846,  was 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


IT 


visited  by  the  Franciscans  in  1768 ;  and  from  that  date  down  to 
1822  they  founded  along  the  coast  twenty-one  missions,  the  chief 
of  which  were  San  Diego,  Monterey,  and  San  Francisco.  In 
these  missions  the  Fathers  directed  seventy-five  thousand  con- 
verted Indians,  providing  for  their  clothing,  food,  and  instruction. 
But  in  1825,  in  consequence  of  the  revolution  by  which  Mexico 
was  severed  from  the  mother  country,  the  Spanish  missionaries 
were  driven  from  California,  and  the  Catholic  Indians  were  de- 
prived of  most  of  their  pastors. 

The  same  result  took  place  in  Texas,  where  the  Franciscans 
announced  the  Gospel  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
where  their  noble  foundations,  the  missions  of  San  Antonio,  San 
Francisco,  and  a  host  of  others,  among  the  Adayes,  the  Cenis,  the 
Tejas,  the  Aes,  after  having  been  levelled  by  wars  and  revolutions, 
and  watered  with  the  blood  of  martyrs  down  to  the  present  cen- 
tury, have  begun  to  revive  since  the  erection  of  Texas  into  a  Vica- 
riate Apostolic  in  1842,  and  the  subsequent  establishment  of  the 
Episcopal  See  of  Galveston,  over  which  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Odin 
presides. 

Such  is  a  rapid  sketch  of  the  former  missions  in  the  countries 
subject  to  the  Spanish  crown.  The  southern  part  of  the  United 
States  was  the  theatre  of  these  holy  attempts ;  and  we  must  now 
pass  to  the  North  to  describe  those  to  which  the  Jesuits  and 
Recollects  of  France  devoted  their  lives  with  such  heroic  zeal. 
Canada  had  been  known  since  the  reign  of  Francis  I.,  and  at- 
tempts at  colonization  had  been  made  under  Henry  III. ;  but  it 
was  only  under  Henry  IV.  that  permanent  settlements  were 
formed  in  North  America,  at  Quebec  and  Port  Royal.  Then  the 
ladies  of  the  Court,  encouraged  by  Father  Coton,  became  mer- 
chants and  ship-owners  in  order  to  enable  the  missionaries  se- 
lected to  reach  those  distant  shores.  The  Marchioness  de 
Guercheville,  who  had  declared  herself  protectress  of  the  Indians 
of  New  France,  devoted  her  fortune  to  the  work  of  colonization ; 


18 


\s 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


w 


and  two  Jesuits,  after  a  short  stay  in  Acadia,  whence  they  were 
driven  by  persecution,  founded  in  1612  the  Mission  of  St.  Saviour, 
on  Mount  Desert  Island,  off  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  in  the  present 
diocese  of  Portland.  Thus  at  the  North,  no  less  than  at  the 
South',  Catholicity  had  taken  possession  of  the  American  soil  be- 
fore the  Puritans  had  given  Protestantism  a  home  at  Boston. 
England  then  possessed  only  a  few  scattered  houses  in  Virginia, 
whose  inmates  sent  a  fleet  of  fishing  craft  each  year  to  Newfound- 
land. As  this  fleet,  escorted  by  the  infamous  Argal,  approached 
St.  Saviour's  and  heard  of  its  existence,  they  resolved  to  attack 
the  settlement.  One  of  the  missionaries  was  mortally  wounded 
by  the  invaders,  his  companions  carried  off  as  prisoners,  and  the 
seeds  of  the  faith  which  Father  Biard  had  planted  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Indians  were  to  germ  only  in  happier  times. 

This  harvest  waited  till  1646.  At  that  time  a  converted  Al- 
gonquin from  Canada  having  visited  the  Abenakis,  a  tribe  occu- 
pying the  present  State  of  Maine,  these  latter  suddenly  found 
themselves  touched  by  grace,  and  a  deputation  of  their  principal 
chiefs  set  out  for  Quebec  to  beg  most  earnestly  for  a  Blackgown. 
Father  Druillettes  was  sent  to  them,  and  his  labors,  followed  by 
those  of  the  two  Bigots,  La  Chasse,  Loyard,  Sirenne,  and  Aubry, 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  Thury  and  Gaulin,  of  the  Seminary 
of  Quebec,  effected  the  conversion  of  the  powerful  tribe  of  the 
Abenakis,  or  Taranteens,  as.  the  early  English  settlers  called  them. 
The  mission  long  maintained  its  zeal  and  fervor,  and  the  Indians 
on  all  occasions  acted  as  brave  and  faithful  allies  of  France.  But 
when  Acadia  was  lost,  the  English  in  Massachusetts  pursued  with 
cruel  vengeance  the  red  man's  attachment  to  Catholicity  and 
France.  Expedition  after  expedition  spread  fire  and  death  through 
the  villages  of  the  Abenakis ;  the  missionaries  were  driven  out  or 
slain,  the  churches  destroyed,  and  the  Indians  deprived  of  all  the 
consolations  of  the  faith.  Yet  they  had  been  too  well  grounded 
in  Catholicity  to  waver :  they  remained  tnie  to  the  faith,  and 


„ ■  AM%mt»J^tli6fatiMltkitymi^ 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


19 


joining  the  Americans  in  their  revolution,  immediately  petitioned 
for  a  French  priest.  Down  to  our  day  they  have  resisted  the 
preachers  of  Protestantism,  and  the  remnants  of  this  powerful 
tribe,  who  still  occupy  five  villages  in  Canada  and  Maine,  are  all 
Catholics,  as  their  forefathers  have  been  for  two  centuries. 

After  Maine,  the  country  now  embraced  in  the  State  of  New 
York  was  first  visited  by  our  missionaries.  This  territory  was  in- 
habited by  the  celebrated  confederation  of  the  Five  Nations  or 
Iroquois,  who  waged  a  perpetual  war  with  the  Hurons  of  Canada. 
The  Hurons,  many  of  whom  had  embraced  the  true  faith,  beheld 
the  inveterate  hatred  of  their  enemies  redoubled;  and  after  a 
struggle  of  twenty-five  years,  from  1626  to  1650,  after  cutting  off 
nine  Jesuits,  the  Iroquois  could  boast  of  having  destroyed  the 
Hurons.  Father  Jogues,  taken  captive  by  the  Mohawks  and  led 
to  their  castles,  was  the  first  missionary  who  bore  the  Gospel  to 
the  State  of  New  York,  then  a  Dutch  colony.  After  remaining 
a  prisoner  for  fifteen  months,  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  torture, 
Father  Jogues  was  delivered  by  the  Dutch,  and  sent  home  to 
France.  But  the  mutilated  hero  at  once  asked  to  be  sent  back  to 
his  Indians,  and  had  no  sooner  entered  their  castles,  in  1646,  than 
he  was  cut  down  by  a  tomahawk.  Such  a  fate  could  not,  how- 
ever, dismay  the  associates  of  Jogues,  and  soon  after.  Father  Le 
Moine,  in  his  turn,  braved  the  cruelty  of  the  Five  Nations.  After 
many  vicissitudes,  after  trials  of  every  kind,  the  Jesuits  at  last 
touched  the  breast  of  the  Iroquois,  and  founded  a  church  glorious 
in  the  annals  of  Christianity, — a  church  with  its  apostles,  its  mar- 
tyrs, its  holy  virgins, — a  church  which  even  in  our  day  has  been 
the  instrument  of  converting  the  distant  tribes  of  Oregon.  All 
these  wonders  were  achieved  in  the  short  period  of  eighteen  years, 
for  after  that  the  English  succeeded  in  exciting  the  pagan  Indians 
against  the  missionaries,  whom  they  expelled  from  the  cantons  of 
the  Iroquois.  Fortunately,  however,  the  Catholic  Indians  had 
already  begun  to  emigrate  to  the  Catholic  colony  of  Canada. 


\> 


20 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  mission  at  Oaughnawaga,  on  the  Mohawk,  had  been  the 
most-flourishing  of  all ;  and  this  was  not  surprising :  it  occupied 
the  spot  which  had  been  bedewed  with  the  blood  of  Father  Jogues 
and  his  companions,  Goupil  and  Lalande.  Harassed  in  the 
practice  of  their  religion,  the  Catholics  of  Oaughnawaga,  led  by 
their  great  chieftain,  resolved  to  emigrate  to  Canada,  and  these 
pilgrims  for  the  faith  founded  near  Montreal  a  new  Oaughnawaga, 
•which  still  exists.  The  once  powerful  league  of  the  Iroquois  has 
disappeared  from  the  territory  of  New  York.  Protestaut  civiliza- 
tion destroyed  or  expelled  them,  to  seize  their  forests  and  hunting 
grounds.  But  the  descendants  of  the  pilgrims  of  1672  have  pre- 
served in  Canada  their  nationality  and  their  faith,  under  the  pro- 
tecting shadow  of  the  Cross.  Three  Iroquois  villages  exist  in  that 
colony,  one  containing  about  two  thousand  souls,  and  furnish 
striking  proof  of  the  solicitude  of  the  Church  for  the  salvation  of 
the  human  race. 

Other  parts  in  the  interior  of  the  United  States,  west  of  the 
English  colonies,  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  were  in  like  man- 
ner visited  by  missionaries  from  France,  and  the  first  nucleus  of  a 
settlement  in  many  States,  as  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  gathered  around  the  humble  chapel  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary. 

Protestant  writers  have  done  justice  to  the  wonderful  fecundity 
o{  a  religion  which  covered  a  whole  continent  with  its  missiona- 
ries ;  and  Bancroft,  after  giving  a  magnificent  picture  of  the  labors 
of  the  Jesuits,  whose  early  exploration  of  the  wilderness,  even  in 
a  scientific  and  commercial  view,  must  win  the  admiration  of  all, 
adds :  "  Thus  did  the  religious  zeal  of  the  French  bear  the  Cross 
to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Mary  and  the  confines  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  look  wistfully  towards  the  homes  of  the  Sioux  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  five  years  before  the  New  England  Eliot  had 
addressed  the  tribe  of  Indians  that  dwelt  witlun  six  miles  of 
Boston  harbor." 


M<qn^iHIMAMtli«MilUii^UM 


^» 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


21 


Eliot  was  a  Protestant  minister,  almost  the  only  one  who  de- 
voted himself  to  evangelize  the  Indians  of  New  England,  and  from 
the  lips  of  the  American  author,  this  contrast  between  the  wide- 
spread missions  of  the  Jesuits  in  1640,  and  the  labors  of  Eliot 
near  Boston,  is  a  striking  homage  to  Catholicity.  In  1661  Father 
Monard  projected  a  mission  among  the  Sioux,  west  of  Lake  Su- 
perior, but  perished  amid  the  forests  in  what  is  now  the  Vicariate 
Apostolic  of  Upper  Michigan.  Father  Allouez  soon  took  up  the 
labors  of  Menard,  and  all  the  country  around  the  great  lakes, 
Iluron,  Michigan,  and  Superior,  echoed  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Jesuits.  Sault  St.  Mary's,  Mackinaw,  and  Green  Bay  were  the 
centres  of  these  missions,  which  still  subsist,  and  tbo  traveller  who 
stops  at  one  of  the  rising  towns  of  the  northern  Mississippi,  will 
hear  the  priest  address  his  congregation  alternately  in  French, 
English,  }ind  some  Indian  dialect. 

Scarcely  were  the  Jesuits  thus  established  in  the  country  of  the 
great  lakes,  when  they  resolved  to  evangelize  the  whole  valley  of 
the  Mississippi.  Father  Marquette  planted  the  Cross  amid  the 
Illinois,  after  having  had  in  16*73  the  glory  of  discovering  and 
exploring  the  Mississippi.  For  two  months  he  sailed  down  the 
river  in  his  bark  canoe,  and  the  narrative  of  his  extraordinary 
voyage,  revealing  to  the  world  the  fact  that  the  St.  Lawrence 
could  communicate  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  by  an  almost  unin- 
terrupted chain  of  lakes,  rivers,  and  streams,  gave  France  the  first 
idea  of  colonizing  Louisiana.  The  Mississippi  valley  soon  beheld 
missions  rise  among  the  Illinois,  Miarais,  Yazoos,  Arkansas,  Nat- 
chez, and  other  tribes.  Jesuits,  Recollects,  and  Priests  of  the 
Foreign  Missions,  here  shared  the  rude  toil  of  converting  the  In- 
dians, and  the  French  missions  of  North  America  thus  mingle 
and  blend  with  those  of  the  Spiaiards  at  the  South.  But  after  a 
century  of  preaching,  all  th^ae  laborious  toils  are  compromised  by 
the  loss  of  Canada  and  the  suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
Many  flocks  were  then  deprived  of  pastors.    Not  only  the  Indian 


\    1 


M  THE  OATHOLIO  CHURCH 

converts,  but  even  the  French  settlers  were  left  destitute  of  priests, 
abandoned  to  the  seductions  of  error  or  the  ravages  of  indiffer- 
ence, till  at  last  Providence  used  the  dispersion  of  the  Fri^nch 
clergy,  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  to  send  to  America  missiounnes, 
and  build  up  anew  the  church  whose  consoling  progress  we  have 
undertaken  to  recount 

Having  thus  glanced  at  the  early  Spanish  and  French  missions, 
we  have  now  to  chronicle  the  labors  of  the  English  Jesuits  in 
Maryland.* 


CHAPTER   II. 


w 


THE    COLONIAL   OHUKCH. 
Hvyland— Settled  by  OathoUoa— Tbeir  perseoadon— Their  emsnoipation— 1634-1774 

Wk  have  briefly  sketched  tbo  early  evangelical  labors  of  the 
Spanish  and  French  missionaries  on  the  domain  which  now  con- 
stitutes the  United  States.  A  third  nation  came  in  its  turn  to 
contribute  by  its  holy  souls  to  the  Apostolates  of  the  American 
continent,  and  the  Jesuits  of  England  share  in  the  settlement  of 
Maryland.  The  first  English  colonies  in  America  each  introduced 
a  new  creed.  In  1607  Captain  John  Smith  and  some  Episcopa- 
lians founded  Virginia ;  in  1620  the  Separatists  landed  at  Ply- 
mouth, and  laid  the  foundations  of  New  England' ;  in  1684  the 
Quakers,  under  the  patronage  o^  William  Penn.  took  ;  "^; <>ssion 
of  Pennsylvania ;  while  in  1634  the  Catholics  laia  the  comer-stone 


*  MuoU  of  the  preceding  was  drawn  from  a  lecture  of  Mr.  John  G.  Shea 
deliveiv  '  in  1852,  before  the  Catholio  Institute  of  New  York,  the  basis  of  his 
well-kncx  a^id  ekborate  History  of  the  Catholio  Missions  among  the  Indian 
tribes  ;:f  fbt.    'aited  S*:ate8. 


J53= 


IN  THE   T'NITKD  STATES. 


28 


of  the  present  State  of  Maryland,  which  received  it«  name  from 
Hooriette  Marie,  the  unfortunate  .jneen,  daughter  of  Henri  Quatre 
and  wife  of  Charles  I  *  But  ^hat  land  I  'd  been  already  bedewed 
with  martyr  blood,  as  thougli  I'rovidence  had  ordained  that  it 
should  be  stamped  with  the  seal  of  *\\q  true  faith  bet<  r.  any 
Protestant  sect  had  transplanted  its  errors  there.  As  early  as 
1670  the  Jesuits,  who  were  laboring  on  the  missions  in  Florida, 
tw  u  d  heir  attention  to  a  country  far  to  the  north  of  theni,  at 
ihc  6?ti,  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  known  to  the  nativ««  by 
tVo  narat)  of  Axacan.  The  Spanish  nAvigators  who  had  firet  ex- 
pi(  >red  the  coast,  had  brought  away  the  son  of  a  cacique,  who  waa 
adopted  by  the  missionaries  as  a  future  means  of  enabling  the 
Gospel  to  penetrate  to  his  tribe. 

The  young  Indian,  gifted  with  rare  talents,  soon  seem*  1  to 
embrace  the  truths  of  the  faith  with  ardor,  and  ere  long,  bapnzed 
under  the  name  of  Don  Luis  de  Velascos,  Lord  of  Vasalloa,  ho 
offered  to  lead  the  Jesuits  to  the  kingdom  of  Axacan.  H  w 
could  the  missionaries  resist  the  hope  of  converting  a  savage  peo 
pie  to  the  faith  ? 

Accordingly  the  offer  of  the  young  cacique  was  cheerfully  ac- 
cepted, and  eight  Jesuits,  under  the  direction  of  Father  Segura, 
Vice-provincial  of  Florida,  embarked  in  a  small  craft,  which 
landed  them  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  then  known  to 
the  Spaniards  by  the  name  of  St.  Mary's.  This  bay  now  bathes 
the  shores  of  the  States  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  by  a  sin- 
gular coincidence  the  names  of  Virgin  and  Mary,  given  in  mem- 
ory of  two  queens,  will  ever  be  a  memorial  of  its  earlier  consecra- 
tion to  Mary,  the  Mother  of  G-od. 

The  missionaries  landed,  accompanied  by  some  Indian  boys, 
who  had  been  educated  in  their  school  in  Havana.    They  pene- 


*  Philarete  Chasles,  iij  his  "  Essay  on  the  Anglo-Americans,"  says  that 
Maryland  was  so  called  in  honor  of  Mary  Tudor.  This  is  an  error:  Queen 
Mary  had  beer  flead  sixty-six  years  before  the  grant  to  Lord  Baltimore. 


24 


THE  CATHOLid  CHURCH 


trated  into  the  interior,  guided  by  Vasallos,  and  after  a  painful 
march  of  several  months,  they  approached  the  realm  of  Axacan. 
At  last  their  guide  started  on,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  prepare  his 
tribe  to  receive  the  missionaries.  But  after  forsaking  the  Jesuits 
amid  the  trackless  forests,  where  they  endured  all  the  horrors  of 
famine,  the  traitor  returned  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  armed  men, 
and  butchered  his  benefactors  at  the  foot  of  a  rustic  altar,  where 
they  had  daily  oflFered  the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  his 
tribe.  The  blood  of  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  Christians,  and  such 
is  the  first  triumph  of  the  faith  on  the  banks  of  the  Chesapeake.* 

After  Father  Segura,  Father  White  is  the  first  who  came  to 
labor  for  the  conversion  of  these  native  tribes.  Sir  George  Cal- 
vert was  in  1624  a  member  of  the  privy  council  of  James  I., 
when  the  sight  of  the  persecutions  employed  against  the  Catho- 
lics touched  the  loyal  and  religious  heart  of  the  English  lord.  He 
abjured  Anglicanism,  and,  informing  his  sovereign  of  the  step,  re- 
signed all  his  posts.  James  resolved  to  retain  the  services  of  so 
conscientious  a  man.  He  made  him  a  peer  of  Ireland,  with  the 
title  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  granted  him  a  considerable  portion 
of  Newfoundland,  which  he  encouraged  him  to  settle.  Calvert 
devoted  a  part  of  his  fortune  to  fruitless  attempts  on  that  island. 
He  then  directed  his  attention  to  Virginia,  where  a  more  genial 
climate  gave  him  hopes  of  a  prosperous  settlement. 

But  sailing  there,  he  was  called  upon  to  take  the  test  oath  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  king  in  matters  of  faith,  and  he  left  the 
country  rather  than  betray  his  conscience.  Then  it  was  that  Lord 
Baltimore  solicited  a  charter  which  would  permit  the  Catholics 
to  practise  their  worship  undisturbed  in  one  spot  on  the  shores  of 
America.  His  request  was  granted,  and  Maryland  was  ceded  to 
him,  subject  only  to  the  yearly  homage  of  two  Indian  arrows  and 
the  payment  into  the  royal  exchequer  of  one  fifth  of  the  gold 


*  Shea's  Lecture. 


i    I 


.i^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


25 


and  silver  drawn  from  the  mines.  Lord  Baltimore  died  in  1632, 
at  the  very  moment  when  this  charter  was  issuing.  His  eldest 
son,  Cecil  Calvert,  inherited  his  rights,  but  he  had  not  'the  energy 
to  direct  the  expedition  in  person,  and  to  Leonard  Calvert,  second 
son  of  Lord  George,  is  due  the  honor  of  having  founded  Maryland. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1634,  two  hundred  English  families, 
chiefly  Catholic,  flying  from  the  persecution  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, entered  the  Potomac  in  two  little  vessels,  the  Ark  and  Dove. 
It  was  Lady-day,  and  the  settlers  wished  to  celebrate  it  duly  by 
liearing  Mass.  They  accordingly  landed,  and  Father  White,  in 
his  relation  of  the  voyage,  thus  gives  an  account  of  the  ceremony  :* 

"  On  the  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
we  offered  for  the  first  time  in  this  region  of  the  world  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  Mass.  The  sacrifice  being  ended,  we  took  ou  our 
shoulders  a  huge  cross  which  we  had  hewn  from  a  tree,  and  car- 
lied  it  in  procession  to  a  place  marked  out  for  it,  the  governor, 
commissioners,  and  other  Catholics  bearing  a  part  in  the  cere- 
mony. We  raised  it  a  trophy  to  Christ  the  Saviour,  humbly 
chanting  on  bended  knees  and  with  deep  emotion  the  Litany  of 
the  Cross." 

Father  White  was  born  at  London  about  15*79,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  College  of  Douay,  founded,  in  1568  by  the 
celebrated  Cardinal  Allen  in  order  to  train  up  priests  for  the  Eng- 
lish mission.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  received  orders,  and 
wfw  immediately  sent  to  London  to  exercise  the  ministry  there  in 
secrecy,  as  the  penal  laws  then  required.  He  could  not,  however, 
escape  the  keen  search  of  the  pursuivants.  In  1602  we  find  him 
included  with  forty-six  other  priests  in  a  sentence  of  perpetual 
banishment.  Forced  thus  to  return  to  the  continent.  Father 
White  resolved  to  enter  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  after  making  a 


*  "  Relatio  Itinerie,"  by  Father  Andrew  White,  copied  ftt  BomV  by  Father 
M'Sherry,  8.  J.,  and  published  in  Force's  Tracts,  and  in  pwt  in  Burnnp'a 


Life  of  Calvert,  p.  58 


2 


r-rvfv^f^^  '^fi  jv>  -^-^^^ 


wi^^ 


,,  ^ 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


novitiate  of  two  years  at  Louvain,  obtained  permission  to  return 
to  England.  Amid  the  most  heroic  labors  of  that  illustrious  or- 
der, we  may  cite  the  unwearied  devotion  of  the  English  Jesuits  in 
favor  of  their  persecuted  countrymen.  For  two  centuries  they 
devoted  themselves  to  the  perilous  labors  of  the  holy  ministry  in 
England,  braving  chains  and  death ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  by 
opening  colleges  in  diflferent  parts  of  Europe,  they  baffled  the 
rigors  of  Protestant  legislation,  which  had  pitilessly  closed  every 
source  of  Catholic  education  in  the  three  kingdoms. 

The  English  Jesuits  had  in  1690  obtained  of  the  liberality  of 
Philip  II.  of  Spain  the  foundation  of  a  college  at  St.  Omer's,  and 
some  years  later  they  opened  the  college  of  Liege  in  the  domains 
of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria.  At  the  same  time,  they  established  in 
Spain  for  English  postulants  the  Novitiate  of  Valladolid  and  the 
Scholasticate  of  Sfc,  Ermenegild  near  Seville.  To  this  latter  house 
Father  White  was  sent,  after  having  spent  ten  years  on  the  Lon- 
don mission.  The  quiet  duties  of  a  professor's  chair  did  not, 
however,  satisfy  his  ardent  zeal,  and  he  soon  obtained  permission 
to  retun)i  for  the  third  time  to  England.  Lord  Baltimore  no 
sooner  knew  him  than  he  determined,  if  possible,  to  intrust  him 
with  the  spiritual  care  of  his  Maryland  settlers.  The  Society  of 
Jesus  eagerly  seconded  the  pious  views  of  the  English  nobleman ; 
nor,  indeed,  could  it  refuse  to  concur  in  a  work  which  promised 
such  an  extension  to  the  bounds  of  the  Church.  To  Father 
White  were  associated  Father  John  Altham,  known  ou  the  mis- 
sion by  the  name  of  Grovener,*  and  two  lay  brothers.  Scarcely 
had  they  landed  on  the  shores  of  the  Potomac  when  the  com- 


*  Cretineau  Joly,  in  his  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  supposes  a 
Father  Altham  and  a  Fatlier  Grovener  (iii.  850),  but  from  an  article  of  the 
late  B.  U.  Campbell,  Esq.,  in  the  Catholic  Almanac  for  1841,  it  is  dear  that 
under  the  two  names  we  must  reckon  only  one  Jesuit.  The  missionaries  of 
that  time,  in  order  to  elude  the  persecution  of  Anglicans,  often  took  succes- 
sively several  names  as  several  disguises.  This  was  ^lecessary  to  preserve 
to  the  Catholics  of  England  the  services  of  their  Fathers  and  pastors. 


r— — •' 


.!l.,.-JI]lll|IWWlBMi<IW 


'^i^'- 


-^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


27 


panions  of  Leonard  Calvert  founded  the  little  town  of  St.  Mary's ; 
and  the  largest  cabin  of  an  Indian  tribe,  ceded  to  the  missiona- 
ries, became  the  first  chapel  of  Maryland. 

The  Fathers  at  once  divided  their  time  between  the  European 
colonists  and  the  Indian  tribes  whose  eyes  they  had  vowed  to 
open  to  the  light  of  the  Gospel.  The  former  constituted  a  con- 
gregation remarkable  for  their  piety  and  morality,  so  that  many  of 
the  Protestants  who  landed  in  1634  and  1638  became  Catholics. 
"The  Relation"  of  1638,  addressed  to  the  General  at  Rome,  con- 
tains these  words : 

"  The  religious  exercises  are  followed  with  exactness,  and  the 
sacraments  are  well  frequented.  By  the  spiritual  exercises  we  have 
formed  the  principal  inhabitants  to  the  practice  of  piety,  and  they 
have  derived  signal  benefits  from  them.  The  sick  and  dying,  whose 
number  has  been  considerable  this  year,  have  all  been  attended,  in 
spite  of  the  great  distance  of  their  dwellings,  so  that  not  a  Catholic 
died  without  having  received  the  benefit  of  the  sacraments." 

On  his  side  Father  White,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  age 
I  (he  was  then  fifty-five),  took  upon  him  the  hard  task  of  learning 
the  language  of  the  Indians.  From  the  first  the  welcome  of  the 
[natives  had  been  cordial.  In  his  intercourse  with  them  Leonard 
[Calvert  had  always  shown  the  greatest  loyalty,  and  the  Maryland 
Ihistorian*  says  on  this  subject : 

"  During  the  remainder  of  the  year,  while  the  English  and  In- 

lians  lived  together  in  St.  Mary's,  according  to  their  stipulation, 

le  utmost  harmony  appears  to  have  prevailed  among  them.    The 

iatives  went  every  day  to  hunt  with  the  '  new-comers'  for  deer 

id  turkeys,  which,  when  they  had  caught,  being  more  expert  at 
It,  they  either  gave  to  the  English  or  sold  for  knives,  beads,  and 
such  trifles.  They  also  supplied  them  with  fish  in  plenty.  As  a 
Bertain  mark  of  the  entire  confidence  which  these  unsuspecting 


*  Boztnan's  Maryland,  ii.  81. 


•<:::■'-. 


m 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


people  placed  in  the  colonists,  their  women  and  children  became, 
in  some  measure,  domesticated  in  the  English  families." 

The  gentle  and  even  innocent  life  of  the  Indians  disposed  them 
favorably  to  receive  the  Gospel.  Father  White  accordingly,  on 
his  first  visit  to  the  Patuxents,  made  some  converts.  In  1639 
Father  Brock,  just  arrived  from  England,  resided  amidst  them  on 
a  strip  of  land  given  him  by  King  Mackaquomen,  and  Father 
Altham  was  stationed  on  Kent  Island.  In  the  ardor  of  his  char- 
ity, Father  Brock,  in  1641,  wrote : 

"  For  my  own  part,  I  would  rather,  laboring  in  the  conversion 
of  these  Indians,  expire  on  the  bare  ground,  deprived  of  all  hu- 
man succor,  and  perishing  with  hunger,  than  once  think  of  aban- 
doning this  holy  work  of  God  from  the  fear  of  want." 

These  noble  words  were  his  testament,  and  a  few  weeks  later 
Father  Brock  breathed  his  last,  exhausted  by  hardship  and  priva- 
tions. 

Father  White  had  in  1639  taken  up  his  station  among  the 
Piscataways,  who  resided  near  the  present  city  of  Washington ; 
and  ere  long  he  had  the  consolation  of  baptizing  King  Chiloma- 
con,  his  family,  and  a  part  of  his  tribe.  The  young  queen  of  the 
Potopacos,  and  the  chief  men  of  the  tribe,  followed  this  example, 
80  that  the  neophytes  numbered  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The 
settlers  at  St.  Mary's  had  meanwhile  built  a  suitable  church,  in 
which  one  of  the  Fathers  ministered.  The  missionaries,  entirely 
devoted  to  their  religious  duties,  constantly  refused  to  take  any. 
part  in  the  political  organization  of  the  colony,  and  as  they  had 
been  invited  to  sit  in  the  first  legislature  of  Maryland,  "  desired  to 
be  excused  from  giving  voices  in  this  assembly."*  Such  is  the 
striking  testimony  given  by  a  Protestant  author,  little  as  it  may 
tally  with  the  heated  accusations  of  the  many  writers  who  inces- 
santly complain  of  Jesuit  ambition. 

*  Bozman's  Maryland,  vol.  i.  p.  88.    The  precise  terms  of  the  minutes  ot 
the  Assembly,  Jan.  25,  1687,  preserved  in  the  nrohives  at  Annapolis. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


29 


jed  them 
ingly,  on 
In  1639 
them  on 
i  Father 
his  char- 

mversion 

f  all  hu- 

of  aban- 

eks  later 
Qd  priva- 

long  the 
hington ; 
Chiloma- 
sn  of  the 
example, 
The 
lurch,  in 

entirely 
ake  any. 

ley  had 
esired  to 

1  is  the 
8  it  niav 

10  inces- 


This  resolution  not  to  interfere  in  politics  made  them  helpless 
to  stem  the  religious  persecution  which  was  soon  to  drive  them 
fi'om  the  arena  of  their  religious  labors.  Misled  by  an  idea  more 
generous  than  prudent,  Lord  Baltimore  had  openly  proclaimed 
the  liberty  of  Christian  worship  in  his  domain  of  Maryland ;  and 
this  first  example  of  toleration,  "  at  a  time  when,  in  fact,  tolera- 
tion was  not  considered  in  any  part  of  the  Protestant  world  to  be 
due  to  Roman  Catholics,"*  when,  in  fact,  every  Protestant  gov- 
ernment in  Europe,  and  even  the  other  English  colonies  in  Amer- 
ica, exercised  the  most  inhuman  intolerance  on  the  Catholics,  has 
been  extolled  with  enthusiasm  by  American  authors  : 

"Upon  the  2Yth  day  of  March,  1634,"  says  Bancroft,  "the 
Catholics  took  quiet  possession  of  the  little  place,  and  religious 
liberty  obtained  a  home,  its  only  home  in  the  wide  world,  at  the 
humble  village  which  bore  the  name  of  St.  Mary's."f 

McMahon,  the  historian  of  Maryland,  also  says : 

"  Yet,  while  we  would  avoid  all  invidious  contrasts,  and  forget 
the  stem  spirit  of  the  Puritan,  ^vhich  so  frequently  mistook  reli- 
gious intolerance  for  holy  zeal,  we  can  turn  with  exultation  to  the 
Pilgrims  of  Maryland  as  the  founders  of  religious  hberty  in  the 
New  World.  They  erected  the  first  altar  to  it  on  this  continent, 
and  the  fires  first  kindled  on  it  ascended  to  heaven  amid  the 
blessings  of  the  savage."J 

This  toleration  was,  however,  only  partial ;  for  to  gain  entrance 
to  Lord  Baltimore's  vast  domains  it  was  necessary  to  believe  in 
the  divinity  of  Christ.  But  if,  even  with  this  restriction,  the  con- 
duct of  the  founders  of  Maryland  is  the  object  of  so  much  eulogy 
in  America,  we  must  claim  our  right  to  hesitate  in  joining  in  it. 
That  the  partisans  of  free  examination  should  refuse  to  hinder  the 
introduction  of  a  new  worship  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  their 


inutea  of 
is. 


*  Rev.  Dr.  Baird,  in  his  *»  Religion  in  America,"  p.  62. 
+  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  347. 
X  McMiihon's  Maryland,  198— note. 


4 


30 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


principles.  But  when  a  State  hns  the  happiness  of  possessing 
unity  of  religion,  and  that  religion  the  truth,  we  cannot  conceive 
how  the  government  can  facilitate  the  division  of  creeds.  Lord 
Baltimore  had  seen  too  well  how  the  English  Catholics  were 
crushed  by  the  Protestants,  as  soon  as  they  were  the  strongest 
and  most  numerous;  he  should  then  have  foreseen  that  it  would 
be  so  in  Maryland,  so  that  the  English  Catholics,  instead  of  find- 
ing liberty  in  America,  only  changed  their  bondage.  Instead, 
then,  of  admiring  the  liberality  of  Lord  Baltimore,  we  prefer  to 
believe  that  he  obtained  his  charter  from  Charles  L,  only  on  the 
formal  condition  of  admitting  Protestants  on  an  equal  footing 
with  Catholics. 

The  Jesuits,  devotmg  themselves,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  red  men,  as  well  as  of  the  colonists,  were  not  unaided  in 
their  work  of  love.  In  1643  two  Capuchin  Fathers,  sent  out  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide," 
arrived  to  join  the  devoted  followers  of  St.  Ignatius."* 

Ten  years  had  scarcely  elapsed  after  the  landing  of  Leonard 
Calvert  when  the  Protestants  of  Maryland  were  already  in  open 
insurrection  against  the  Catholics  and  their  governor.    The  Jesu- 

*  This  fact  ia  mentioned  by  Henrion  in  his  History  of  Catholic  Missions, 
i.  685,  on  the  authority  of  the  *'  Present  State  of  the  Church  in  all  parts  of 
the  World,  by  Urban  Cerri,"  page  282.  After  an  account  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sion, this  author  states  at  the  same  time  the  General  of  the  Capuchins,  ou 
the  recommendation  of  the  Congregation  **  de  {Propaganda  fide,"  sent  several 
French  and  English  Capuchins  to  Virginia,  undet  which  name  the  Italian 
author  includes  all  the  English  colonies  in  North  America.  He  adds,  too, 
that  the  mission  was  restored  in  1650,  at  the  request  of  the  queen  dowager 
of  England,  but  that  it  was  subsequently  abandoned." 

The  Narrative  of  Father  White,  published  by  Force  in  his  Historical 
Tracts,  iv.  47,  says,  under  the  date  of  1648,  "Two  Fathers  of  the  order  of 
St.  Francis,  sent  from  England  the  year  before,  have  entered  into  a  portion 
of  the  labors  and  harvest,  between  whom  and  us  offices  of  kindness  are  mu- 
tually observed  for  the  common  prosperity  of  the  Catholic  cause." 

Hennepin,  the  Flemish  Recollect,  twice  in  his  "  New  Discovery"  (Edn. 
1698),  at  pages  59  and  281,  alludes  to  the  labors  of  English  Franciscans  in 
Maryland. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


its  were  seized  and  sent  off,  loaded  with  irons,  to  England,  where 
they  were  confined  in  prisons  for  several  years.  In  1648  Father 
Fisher  succeeded  in  returning  to  Maryland,  and  immediately  on 
his  return  wrote  to  Rome — 

•'  By  the  singular  providence  of  God,  I  found  my  flock  collected 
together,  after  they  had  been  scattered  for  three  long  years ;  and 
they  were  really  in  more  flourishing  circumstances  than  those 
who  had  oppressed  and  plundered  them ;  with  what  joy  they  re- 
ceived me,  and  with  what  delight  I  met  them,  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  describe,  but  they  received  me  as  an  angel  of  God.  I 
have  now  been  with  them  a  fortnight,  and  am  preparing  for  the 
painful  separation ;  for  the  Indians  summon  me  to  their  aid,  and 
they  have  been  ill-treated  by  the  enemy  since  I  was  torn  from 
them.  I  hardly  know  what  to  do,  but  I  cannot  attend  to  all. 
God  grant  that  I  may  do  his  will  for  the  greater  glory  of  his 
name.  Truly  flowers  appear  in  our  land :  may  they  attain  to 
fruit."* 

Father  Andrew  White,  despite  his  earnest  desire,  had  not  the 
happiness  of  returning  to  America.  After  many  years'  confine- 
ment he  was  banished  from  England,  but  by  his  Superior's  orders 
at  once  returned  again,  braving  the  rigor  of  the  penal  laws  against 
missionaries.  He  devoted  the  closing  years  of  his  life  to  the  same 
ministry  in  which  he  had  spent  his  youth,  and  the  Apostle  of 
Maryland  died  at  London  in  166*7,  one  of  the  holiest  members  of 
an  order  which  has  produced  so  many  saints. 

Meanwhile  his  fellow  religious  maintained  their  ground  in 
America,  amid  the  constant  disorders  in  which  the  colony  lan- 
guished, and  for  more  than  a  century  the  English  Jesuits,  in  un- 
interrupted succession,  kept  alive  the  faith  of  the  settlers  amid 


*  Letter  cited  by  the  late  B.  U.  Campbell,  Esq.,  in  hia  "  Historical  Sketch 
of  the  Early  Christian  Missions  among  the  Indians  of  Maryland,"  from  which 
and  from  whose  "  Life  of  Archbishop  Carroll"  we  derive  much  of  these  chap- 
ters, as  will  be  evident  to  all  American  readers. 


32 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


the  persecutions  of  which  they  were  the  victims,  and  of  which  we 
cannot  omit  some  account. 

The  Catholics  had  already  been  persecuted,  but  they  did  not 
learn  to  persecute.  Composing  a  majority  in  the  Assembly  of 
1649,  they  passed  the  famous  "Act  concerning  religion,"  which 
provided  that  "no  person  whatsoever,  professing  to  believe  in 
Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  molested  for  or  in  respect  of  his  or  her  re- 
ligion, or  the  free  exercise  thereof."*  Yet  their  conduct  was 
scorned,  their  example  not  followed. 

In  1664  the  Provincial  Assembly  deprived  Catholics  of  their 
civil  rights,  and  decreed  that  liberty  of  conscience  should  not  ex- 
tend to  "popery,  prelacy,  or  licentiousness  of  opinion,"  an  act 
which  has  drawn  from  the  historian  Bancroft  this  reflection :  "The 
Puritans  had  neither  the  gratitude  to  respect  the  rights  of  the 
government,  by  which  they  had  been  received  and  fostered,  nor 
magnanimity  to  continue  the  toleration  to  which  alone  they  were 
indebted  for  their  residence  in  the  colony ."f 

In  1692  the  Assembly  established  the  Anglican  Church 
throughout  the  colony  of  Maryland,  dividing  the  counties  into 
parishes,  and  imposing  a  tax  on  citizens  of  every  denomination 
for  the  support  of  the  Protestant  clergy.  While  the  Catholics 
were  masters  of  the  government,  they  had  made  no  such  exaction 
for  the  support  of  their  missionaries.  The  Jesuits  received  con- 
cessions of  land  on  the  same  terms  as  other  colonists,  but  all  was 
voluntary  in  the  offerings  of  the  faithful ;  and  now  Catholics  were 
compelled  to  pay  for  the  support  of  a  creed  which  persecuted 
them. 

In  1704  a  new  law,  entitled  "An  act  to  prevent  the  increase  of 
Popery  in  the  Province,"  prohibited  all  bishops  and  priests  from 
saying  Mass,  exercising  the  spiritual  functions  of  their  ministry, 
or  endeavoring  to  gain  converts ;  it  also  forbid  Catholics  to  teach, 

*  See  this  elaborately  proved  in  Davis's  Day-star.    Scribner,  1856. 
t  Bancroft,  i.  261. 


wa 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


88 


we 


jase  of 

1 

i  from 

listry, 

m 

teach, 

i 

and  enabled  a  Catholic  child,  by  bocoming  a  Protestant,  to  exB"* 
from  its  Catholic  parents  its  proportion  of  his  property,  as  thoug.. 
they  were  dead.  Catholics  were,  however,  permitted  to  hear 
Mass  in  their  own  families  and  on  their  own  grounds,  and  only 
by  this  exception  could  the  Catholic  worship  be  practised  in  Ma- 
ryland for  seventy  years. 

The  property  of  the  Jesuits  rested  on  the  compact  between 
Lord  Baltimore  and  the  colonists,  entitled  "  Conditions  of  Planta- 
tion," by  which  every  colonist  settling  with  five  able-bodied  labor- 
ers was  entitled  to  two  thousand  acres  of  land  at  a  moderate  rate. 
Moreover,  the  Indian  kings  whom  they  had  converted,  had  made 
gratuitous  concessions  of  land  to  the  Church. 

According  to  the  law,  the  Jesuits  could  exercise  the  ministry 
only  in  their  own  house  and  for  their  own  servants ;  and  the  size 
of  the  chapels  corresponded  to  this  ostensible  design,  and  they 
were  always  connected  with  the  house.  Of  course,  however,  the 
Catholics  eluded  the  letter  of  the  law,  and  these  houses  became 
the  sole  refuge  of  religion  in  Maryland. 

In  1706  an  act  authorized  the  meetings  of  the  Quakers,  so  that 
in  a  colony  founded  by  Catholics,  Catholics  were  the  only  victims 
of  the  intolerance  of  the  dominant  party.  During  the  following 
years  successive  laws  deprived  them  of  the  elective  franchise,  un- 
less they  took  the  test  oath  and  renounced  their  faith.  The 
executive  power,  too,  often  arbitrarily  issued  proclamations,  by  its 
own  authority,  "  to  take  children  from  the  pernicious  influence  of 
Catholic  parents,"  and  the  Assembly  voted  that  Papists  should 
pay  double  the  tax  levied  on  Protestants.  The  animosity  against 
Catholics  at  last  became  such  that  they  were  forbidden  to  appear 
in  certain  parts  of  the  towns,  and  they  were  in  a  manner  shut  up 
in  a  sort  of  Ghetto. 

Many  of  the  Catholics  now  sought  to  escape  this  oppression, 
and  Charles  Carroll,  father  of  the  future  Bishop  of  Baltimore, 
sailed  to  France  in  1762  to  negotiate  for  the  emignation  of  all  the 

2* 


84 


THE   Ca.'HOLIC  church 


Maryland  Catholics  to  Louisiana.  For  this  purpose  he  had  sev- 
eral interviews  with  the  ministry  of  Louis  XV.,  in  order  to  con- 
vince them  of  the  immense  resources  of  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  but  the  government  which  abandoned  Canada  to  England, 
and  sold  Louisiana  to  Spain,  was  not  able  to  appreciate  the  fore- 
cast of  Carroll,  and  his  offers  were  rejected. 

During  all  this  period  of  oppression  the  Catholics  of  Maryland, 
with  rare  exceptions,  remained  faithful  to  the  Church,  and  as 
their  missionaries  afforded  them  means  of  Catholic  education, 
many  of  the  younger  members,  to  pursue  more  extensive  studies, 
crossed  the  ocean.  Many  of  both  sexes  in  France  and  Belgium 
entered  religious  orders ;  some  returning  as  Jesuit  Fathers  to  re- 
pay the  care  bestowed  on  themselves ;  others,  by  their  prayers  m 
silent  cloisters,  obtaining  graces  and  spiritual  blessings  for  their 
distant  Maryland.  Of  the  Jesuits  who  labored  in  Maryland  prior 
to  the  Revolution,  a  great  many  were  natives  of  the  province,  and 
we  find  others  on  the  mission  in  England. 

The  penal  laws  prevented  any  emigration  of  Catholics  to  Mary- 
land, and  indeed  the  only  accession  to  their  numbers  which  the 
faithful  in  Maryland  received  from  abroad,  was  !i  number  of 
Acadians,  who,  after  beholding  the  devastation  of  their  happy 
homes  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  were  torn  from  their  native  shores  in 
1*766,  and  thrown  destitute  on  the  coast  of  the  vaiious  colonies. 
Those  who  were  set  asiiore  in  Maryland  seem  to  have  been  more 
happy  than  most  of  their  suffering  countrymen.  For  a  considera- 
ble period  they  enjoyed  the  presence  of  a  priest — the  Rev.  Mr. 
Leclerc — and  raised  a  church  on  a  hill  outside  of  Baltimore. 
On  the  departure  of  this  excellent  man,  who  left  them  vestments 
and  altar  plate,  these  Acadians  had  to  rely  on  the  occasional 
visits  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers.* 

Meanwhile  the  Anglican  clergy  in  Maryland,  fattening  on  their 


*  Robin,  NouTeau  Voyage,  p.  98. 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


35 


tithes,  lived  in  plenty  and  disorder  amid  their  slaves,  without  in 
the  least  troubling  their  minds  about  preaching  to  their  flocks. 
So  notorious  is  this  disorderly  conduct  of  the  colonial  clergy,  that 
the  Protestant  Bishop  of  Maryland,  a  few  years  since,  exclaimed : 
"  Often  as  I  hear  and  read  authentic  evidence  of  the  character  of 
a  large  proportion  of  the  clergy  in  the  province  of  Maryland,  two 
generations  since,  I  am  struck  with  wonder  that  God  spared  a 
church  80  universally  corrupt,  and  did  not  utterly  remove  its  can- 
dlestick out  of  its  place."* 

As  a  contrast,  we  give  the  following  address  of  the  legislature 
to  the  Governor  of  Maryland,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1697 : 

"  On  the  complaint  of  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England, 
that  the  Popish  priests  in  Charles  county  do,  of  their  own  accord, 
in  this  violent  and  raging  mortality  in  that  county,  make  it  their 
business  to  go  up  and  down  the  county  to  persons*  houses,  when 
dying  and  frantic,  and  endeavor  to  seduce  and  make  proselytes  of 
them,  and  in  such  condition  boldly  presume  to  administer  the 
sacraments  to  them:  We  humbly  entreat  your  excellency  to 
issue  your  proclamation  to  restrain  and  prohibit  such  their  ex- 
travagant and  presumptuous  behavior."f 

Thus  the  wide  diflFerence  between  a  ministry  of  tnith  and  a 
ministry  of  error,  appeared  in  Maryland  as  elsewhere,  the  former 
devoting  life  in  the  service  of  their  neighbor,  the  latter  only  think- 
ing of  the  enjoyments  of  life. 

This  degradation  of  the  Anglican  clergy  at  last  sapped  all  their 
authority,  and  the  feelings  of  the  Protestants  towards  their  Cath- 
olic countrymen  began  gradually  to  change.  When  discontent 
with  the  mother  country  awakened  ideas  of  an  insurrection 
throughout  the  colonies,  it  became  important  to  conciliate  the 
Catholics ;  and  both  parties,  whigs  and  tories,  vied  with  each 


*  Campbell's  Life  of  Archbishop  Carroll— in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine, 
iii.  99. 
t  Campbell,  ed.  iii.  40. 


80 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


other  in  emancipating  thera.  The  convention  in  1774  made  the 
following  appeal  to  the  people : 

"  As  our  opposition  to  the  settled  plan  of  the  Bridsh  adminis- 
tration to  enslave  America  will  be  strengthened  by  a  union  of  all 
ranks  of  men  within  this  province,  we  do  most  earnestly  recom- 
mend that  all  former  differences  about  religion  or  politics,  and  all 
private  animosities  and  quarrels  of  every  kind,  from  henceforth 
cease,  and  be  forever  buried  in  oblivion ;  and  we  entreat,  we  con- 
jure every  man  by  his  duty  to  God,  his  country,  and  his  posterity, 
cordially  to  unite  in  defence  of  our  common  rights  and  liberties." 

The  act  emancipating  the  Catholics  of  Maryland  followed  close 
on  this  appeal ;  but,  as  we  have  seen,  it  was  wrested  from  the 
party  in  power  by  the  critical  position  of  affairs,  and  did  not 
spring  from  any  noble  motive.  This  should  never  be  forgotten 
when  Protestants  boast  of  the  toleration  which  they  allow  the 
Church  in  the  United  States.* 


CHAPTER   III. 


IHE    CHURCH    IN    THK    REPUBLIC. 


MaryUnd— Father  John  Carroll— How  the  United  State*  granted  liberty  of  conscience 
to  the  Catholics— Mission  of  Father  Carroll  to  Canada. 

The  persecution  of  the  Catholics  had  ceased  in  Maryland  with 
the  necessity  of  conciliating  them  in  the  struggle  for  indepen- 
dence ;  and  the  Declaration  of  Rights  voted  by  that  province  in 
1776,  by  Article  33,  granted  them  full  toleration  and  religious 


*  Cretineau  Joly's  account  in  his  Hiatory  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  is  quite 
inaccurate.  Henrion,  "  Ilistolre  dos  Missions  Catholiques,"  is  more  briet 
and  more  exact. 


IV  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


87 


equality.  At  the  moment  when  Catholics  thus  obtained  a  tardy 
justice,  there  were  in  the  whole  extent  of  Maryland  twenty  Jesuits, 
or  rather  ex- Jesuits,  tor  the  society  had  been  suppressed  some 
years  before.  But  tl  o  Fathers  continued  to  live,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, in  the  same  way  as  though  their  order  subsisted  in  all  its 
perfection ;  and  as  their  Superior  at  the  time  of  the  suppression, 
Father  Lewis  was  at  the  same  time  Vicar-general  of  the  Vicar- 
apostolic  of  the  London  District,  which  gave  him  authority  over 
all  the  Catholic  clergy  in  the  United  States,  the  missionaries  con- 
tinued to  regard  him  as  their  head.  They  accordingly  recognized 
his  right  to  receive  the  revenues  of  the  society's  property  and  di- 
vide it  among  the  Fathers  for  their  support. 

The  first  effect  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics  was  the 
erection  of  churches  in  the  towns,  whereas  till  then  there  had 
only  been  chapels  in  the  rural  districts,  on  the  plantations  or  farms 
possessed  by  the  Jesuits.  Thus,  in  1774,  Baltimore  was  only  a 
station  visited  once  a  month  by  a  Father  from  the  farm  at  White 
Marsh.  Mass  was  said  in  a  room  in  the  presence  of  some  forty 
Catholics,  mostly  French  people,  who  had  been  barbarously  and 
treacherously  dragged  off  from  Acadia  or  Nova  Scotia  in  1766. 
The  priest  took  with  him  his  vestments  and  altar  plate,  for  the 
city  where  nine  councils  have  since  been  held,  did  not  then  pos- 
sess even  a  chalice  1  Father  John  Carroll  was  at  this  time  on  a 
farm  belonging  to  his  family  at  Rock  Creek,  ten  miles  from  the 
present  city  of  Washington.  He  visited  the  Catholics  for  many 
miles  around,  and  as  he  became  the  first  Bishop  of  Baltimore  and 
of  the  Union,  we  shall  give  a  short  sketch  of  his  life. 

John  Carroll  was  born  in  1735,  at  Upper  Marlborough  in  Ma- 
ryland. His  father,  Daniel  Carroll,  a  native  of  Ireland,  had  pre- 
ferred the  confiscation  of  his  property  to  a  renunciation  of  his 
faith.  His  mother,  Eleanora  Damall,  was  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
Maryland  planter,  who  had  secured  her  a  viery  careful  education 
in  a  French  convent.    She  availed  herself  of  it  to  direct  in  person 


38 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


the  tuition  of  her  son  till  he  had  to  go  to  college.  The  laws 
8trict)'y  prohibited  Catholics  from  having  schools,  but  the  Jesuits 
had  eluded  this  prohibition,  and  established  a  school  at  Bohemia 
Manor.  In  this  secluded  house  they  received  as  many  as  forty 
scholars  at  a  time.  Young  Carroll  attended  this  school  for  some 
years,  and  in  1748  set  out  for  France,  in  order  to  finish  his  studies 
with  the  Fathers  at  St.  Omers.  There  he  resolved  to  enter  a 
society,  so  identified  with  the  existence  of  Catholicity  in  Maryland, 
and  after  long  years  of  novitiate  and  study  at  Watten  and  Liege, 
he  was  ordained  in  1759  and  took  his  last  vows  in  1771. 

The  following  year.  Father  Carroll  travelled  over  many  parts  of 
Europe  as  tutor  of  the  son  of  Lord  Stourton ;  and  in  1773  re- 
paired to  Bruges,  where  the  English  Jesuits  had  gathered  on  the 
confiscation  of  St.  Omera  and  of  Watten,  by  a  decree  of  the  Par- 
Uament  of  Paris,  issued  in  August,  1762. 

In  this  city  the  Bull  reached  him,  which,  under  the  title  of 
"  Dominus  ac  Redemptor,"  supprepsed  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He 
then  retired  to  England,  where  he  became  chaplain  to  Lord  Arun- 
del; but  this  life  did  not  suit  his  taste,  and  in  1774  he  returned 
to  Maryland  to  devote  himself  to  the  care  of  his  Catholic  country- 
men. 

Father  John  Carroll  found  the  thirteen  American  colonies  pre- 
luding the  energetic  struggle  which  was  to  terminate  in  their  in- 
dependence. His  liveliest  sympathies  were  for  the  Revolutionaiy 
cause,  for  he  saw  that  it  had  begun  in  Maryland  by  the .  emanci- 
pation of  the  Catholics,  and  there  was  ground  for  hope  that  the 
other  States  would  gradually  follow  the  example. 

It  is  generally  believed  that  the  United  States  as  a  government 
proclaimed  liberty  of  worship  from  the  time  of  the  Confederation, 
and  that  this  fundamental  principle  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
Constitution  which  binds  the  several  States  together.  It  was  not 
80.  Religious  questions  have  at  all  times  been  considered  as 
questions  of  interior  administration,  falling  within  the  jurisdiction 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


39 


The  laws 
the  Jesuits 
t  Bohemia 
y  as  forty 
)1  for  some 
his  studies 
to  enter  a 

Maryland, 
and  Liege, 

n. 

,ny  parts  of 
a  1773  re- 
red  on  the 
)f  the  Par- 

the  title  of 
Jesus.  Ho 
Lord  Arun- 
e  returned 
ic  country- 

onies  pre- 
n  their  in- 
/^olutionaiy 
le .  emanci- 
e  that  the 

r 

ovemment 
federation, 
►art  of  the 
It  was  not 
isidered  as 
urisdicdon 


of  the  several  States,  and  the  only  mention  made  of  religion  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  third  section  of  Article 
VI. :  "  No  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification 
to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States ;"  and  one 
of  the  amendments  subsequently  passed,  which  says,  "  Congress 
shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  pro- 
hibiting the  free  exercise  thereof."  As  the  historian  of  Maryland 
justly  observes,  "  It  is  possible  that  instances  may  occur  where 
this  amendment  to  the  Constitution  may  be  of  some  use ;  but  as 
Congress  seldom  has  occasion  to  legislate  on  subjects  of  religion, 
the  oppression  of  individuals  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  religious 
as  well  as  civil  rights,  is  most  generally  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  State  governments."*  And,  in  fuct,  the  provisions  of  the 
Constitution  did  not  prevent  the  several  States  from  passing  laws 
to  establish  or  prohibit  any  religion,  in  their  discretion.  Still,  as 
we  have  said,  the  original  thirteen  States,  one  after  another, 
granted  to  the  Catholics  liberty  of  conscience,  but  many  of  them 
long  refused  the  Catholics  civil  and  political  rights.  Thus,  it  is 
only  since  1806  that  Catholics,  to  hold  office  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  have  been  dispensed  with  a  solemn  abjuration  of  all  obe- 
dience to  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  power.  Down  to  January  1, 1 836, 
to  be  an  elector  and  eligible  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  it  was 
necessary  to  swear  to  a  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  Protestant  reli- 
gion. In  New  Jersey,  a  clause  excluding  Catholics  from  all  offices 
was  abolished  only  in  1844.  And  even  now,  eighty  years  after 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire 
still  excludes  Catholics  from  eveiy  office,  stubbornly  resisting  all 
the  petitions  presented  for  a  removal  of  this  stigma  from  their 
statute-book. 

As  to  the  States  founded  on  territory  ceded  by  France  or  Spain, 
such  as  Louisiana,  Floiida,  Michigan,  Indiana,  or  severed  from 


*  Bozman'a  Maryland,  i.  291. 


Jt 


w 


40 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Mejdco,  like  Texas  and  California,  the  Catholics,  original  proprie- 
tors of  the  soil,  obtained,  by  the  act  of  cession,  the  free  enjoyment 
of  their  worship ;  and  there  is  on  the  side  of  Protestantism  mere 
justice,  but  no  generosity,  in  keeping  the  faith  of  treaties. 

Hear,  too,  how  Bishop  Carroll  himself,  soon  after  his  elevation 
to  the  Episcopacy,  rendered,  in  1790,  an  account  of  the  motives 
which  had  led  to  the  liberty  of  conscience  for  the  Catholics  of 
America : 

"Having  renounced  subjection  to  England,  the  American 
States  found  it  necessary  to  form  new  constitutions  for  their  future 
government,  and  happily  a  free  toleration  of  religions  was  made  a 
fundamental  in  all  their  new  constitutions,  and  in  many  of  them 
not  only  a  toleration  was  decreed,  but  likewise  a  perfect  equality 
of  civil  rights  to  persons  of  every  Christian  profession.  In  some, 
indeed,  the  yet  unextinguished  spirit  of  prejudice  and  intolerance 
excluded  Catholics  from  this  equality. 

"  Many  reasons  concurred  to  produce  this  happy  and  just  arti- 
cle in  the  new  constitutions.  First,  some  of  the  leading  charac- 
ters in  the  direction  of  American  councils  were  by  principle  averse 
to  all  religious  oppression,  and  having  been  much  acquainted 
with  the  manners  and  doctrines  of  Roman  Catholics,  represented 
strongly  the  injustice  of  excluding  them  from  any  civil  right ; 
secondly,  Catholics  concurred  as  generally,  and  with  equal  zeal, 
in  repelling  that  oppression  which  first  produced  the  hostilities 
with  Great  Britain,  and  it  would  have  been  impolitic,  as  well  as 
unjust,  to  deprive  them  of  a  common  share  of  advantages  pur- 
chased with  common  dangor  and  by  united  exertions ;  thirdly, 
the  assistance,  or  at  least  the  neutrality  of  Canada,  was  deemed 
necessary  to  the  success  of  the  United  States,  and  to  give  equal 
rights  to  Roman  Catholics  might  tend  to  dispose  the  Canadians 
favorably  towards  the  American  cause ;  lastly,  France  began  to 
show  a  disposition  to  befriend  the  Unit,ed  States,  and  it  was 
conceived  to  be  very  impolitic  to  disgust  that  powerful  king- 


It 


■'-  wn*^ : 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


41 


(lorn  by  unjust  severities   against  the  religion  which  it  pro- 
fessed."* 

It  was,  then,  political  reasons  which  induced  the  States  to  grant 
liberty  of  conscience  to  Catholics;  and  we  cannot  insist  too 
strongly  on  this  point  in  face  of  the  affirmations  of  European  Pro- 
testantism, which  incessantly  cites  the  example  of  the  United 
States  to  induce  men  to  believe  in  its  generosity  to  Catholics.  It 
gives  us  pleasure,  too,  to  state  that  1^  ranee  exercised  a  twofold 
influence  in  arresting  the  oppression  of  American  Catholics :  first, 
by  the  desire  which  the  States  had  of  conciliating  Louis  XVI. ; 
and  next,  by  their  prudent  resolve  not  to  shock  the  religious  feel- 
ings of  the  French  colonists  in  Canada.  At  the  period  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1776,  Canada  had  been  but  six- 
teen years  under  the  power  of  England,  and  as  it  had  so  long  and 
so  patriotically  resisted  the  English  arms,  the  recollection  of  the 
old  regime  would  naturally  be  still  fresh.  It  was  so,  indeed ;  and 
the  United  States,  allies  of  France,  would  naturally  expect  aid 
from  Canada;  but  we  cannot  conceive  why  Louis  XVI.  made  no 
attempt  to  reconquer  Canada  for  himself,  for  this  would  have 
given  France  back  a  colony,  and  would  have  enabled  her  to  ren- 
der most  efficient  aid  to  the  United  States.  The  enterprise  would 
have  been  most  easy,  had  France  shown  a  more  prudent  or  less 
disinterested  policy.  The  Canadians,  placed  between  their  French 
brethren  and  their  new  masters,  would  not  have  hesitated  to 
throw  off  the  English  yoke ;  while,  solicited  merely  by  revolted 
colonies,  whose  old  hatred  against  themselves  and  their  faith  they 
knev  too  well,  they  refused  to  make  common  cause  with  the  lat- 
ter, and  England  found  in  the  French  and  Catholic  colony  left 
her,  a  powerful  bulwark  against  the  United  States. 


*  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  by  the  late  B.  U.  Campbell,  Esq. 
(U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iv.  251), 

Brent,  in  his  Life,  p.  68,  cites  a  translation  of  a  French  translation,  while 
Mr.  Campbell  copied  the  archbishop's  original  letter. 


:•      A 


\s 


42 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


"  Nothing,"  says  a  Canadian  historian,  "  nothing  could  roiise 
the  colonists  from  their  indifference.  The  fact  is,  that  the  gov- 
ernment of  their  sympathies  was  not  to  be  found  in  America. 
The  mere  sight  of  the  white  banner,  with  its  fleurs-de-lys,  would 
have  thrilled  every  fibre  of  those  apparently  apathetic  hearts."* 

The  Catholics  of  Maryland  had  all  resolutely  embraced  the 
side  of  American  independence.  They  had  already  gained  liberty 
of  worship.  They  had  sent  to  Congress  two  of  their  most  emi- 
nent men — Daniel  Carroll,  the  elder  brother  of  John,  and  Charles 
Carroll,  his  cousin.  They  now  looked  forward  to  an  alliance  with 
Canada  as  a  means  of  gaining  to  their  Church  a  fair  share  in  the 
councils  of  the  Union.  An  American  army  had  already  in  1776 
taken  Montreal  and  besieged  Quebec.  Though  repulsed  at  the 
latter  place,  they  kept  possession  6f  Montreal,  always  hoping  that 
their  prolonged  presence  would  lead  to  a  general  revolt  of  the 
Canadians  against  the  English.  To  hasten  this.  Congress  dis- 
patched to  Canada  Franklin,  Charles  Carroll  and  Chase,  of  Ma- 
ryland, and  invited  Father  John  Carroll  to  join  them,  in  the  hope 
that  he  would  exercise  some  influence  over  the  Catholic  clergy. 

The  delegates  left  New  York  on  the  2d  of  April,  1776,  but 
with  all  their  dispatch,  reached  Montreal  only  on  the  29th.  (We 
incidentally  mention  the  length  of  this  journey,  which  we  have 
made  between  sunrise  and  sunset.)  Franklin  assembled  the  prin- 
cipal colonists,  while  Father  Carroll  endeavored  to  enter  into  cor- 
respondence with  the  clergy;  but  neither  found  his  advances 
welcomed  as  he  had  expected,  and  on  the  13th  of  May  they  set 
out  together  for  New  York.  Franklin  having  fallen  sick  on  the 
way,  his  fellow-traveller  nursed  him  with  true  devotedness ;  and 
during  this  embassy,  the  priest  and  the  philosopher  contracted  a 
sincere  friendship,  as  we  find  from  the  grateful  letters  of  Franklin : 


*  Histoire  du  Canada,  par  F.  X.  Garnean  (Quebec,  1852),  ii.  480.  "  The 
English  flag  nor  the  American  flt^g  is  the  flag  of  '  ours,' "  the  Canadians 
would  aay,  in  their  quaint  but  touching  language.  ^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


43 


"  As  to  myself,  I  grew  daily  more  feeble,  and  I  think  I  cfould 
hardly  have  got  along  so  far,  but  for  Mr.  Carroll's  friendly  assist- 
ance and  tender  care  of  me."* 

We  shall  hereafter  find  Franklin  not  forgetful  of  his  kind  in- 
firmarian,  when  it  was  proposed  to  appoint  a  bishop  for  the 
United  States. 

•  Congress  had  voted  an  address  to  the  Canadians,  which  con- 
tained these  words  :  "  We  are  too  well  acquainted  with  the  liberty 
of  sentiment  distinguishing  your  nation  to  imagine  that  diflPerence 
of  religion  will  prejudice  you  against  a  hearty  amity  with  us. 
You  know  that  the  transcendent  nature  of  freedom  elevates  those 
who  unite  in  her  cause  above  all  such  low-minded  infirmities. 
The  Swiss  cantons  furnish  a  memorable  proof  of  this  truth.  Their 
Union  is  composed  of  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  States, 
living  in  the  utmost  concord  and  peace  with  one  another,  and 
thereby  enabled,  ever  since  they  bravely  vindicated  their  freedom, 
to  defy  and  defeat  every  tyrant  that  has  invaded  them."f 

These  words,  however,  inspired  the  Canadians  with  little  confi- 
dence, when  they  saw  the  same  Congress  address  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  in  October,  1774,  complaining  that  the  Quebec  Act 
had  granted  religious  liberty  in  Canada : 

"  Nor  can  we  suppress  our  astonishment  that  a  British  Parlia- 
ment should  ever  consent  to  establish  in  that  counti  a  religion 
that  has  deluged  your  island  in  blood,  and  disperse  impiety, 
bigotry,  persecution,  murder,  and  rebellion  through  evei  j  part  of 
the  world." 

On  the  conquest  of  Canada  by  England,  the  country  was  for 
some  years  under  the  iron  rule  of  martial  law,  and  religion  was 
fettered  in  a  thousand  ways,  while  every  favor  was  shown  to  in- 
vading Protestantism.    At  the  sight  of  the  agitation  in  New 


/ 


*  Franklin's  Works,  -viii.  154. 

t "  Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,"  cited  by 
Campbell. 


u 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


England,  the  home  goverament  felt  the  necessity  of  attaching 
Canada  by  concessions,  and  the  Quebec  Act  of  17*74  restored  to 
the  Canadians  their  French  law,  and  redintegrated  the  Catholic 
worship  in  all  its  rights.  To  the  Americans  and  their  friends  in 
England,  this  act  was  a  plan  to  raise  a  Catholic  army  in  Canada  for 
their  subjugation ;  their  hostility  to  it  was  bitter,  and  necessarily 
predisposed  the  Canadians  against  them.  As  Mr.  Gameau  says: 
"  The  language  of  Congress  would  have  been  fanatical,  if  those 
who  employed  it  had  been  serious.  It  was  foolish  and  puerile  in 
the  mouths  of  those  who  were  about  to  invite  the  Canadians  to 
join  their  cause,  in  order  side  by  side  to  give  America  her  inde- 
pendence. This  avowal,  then,  as  to  the  act  of  1*774,  was  incon- 
siderate ;  it  did  no  good  in  England,  and  alienated  Canada  from 
the  cause  of  the  confederates."* 

In  order  to  justify  Father  John  Carroll's  course  at  Montreal, 
we  must  say  that,  as  his  historian  very  particularly  insists,  he 
merely  preached  neutrality  to  the  Canadians.f  The  Catholics  of 
Maryland,  scarcely  yet  in  possession  of  liberty  of  conscience,  natu- 
rally desired  to  have  as  friends  their  Canadian  brethren  in  the 
faith.  They  feared  that  if  the  Canadians  took  up  arms  against 
the  United  States,  the  fanaticism  of  the  Protestants,  just  lulled  for 
a  time,  would  awaken  with  new  fury  against  them.  Father  Car- 
roll's mission  was  therefore  religious  in  its  object.  But  it  could 
not  be  so  regarded  in  Canada,  and  the  loyal  Breton  bishop  who 
then  occupied  the  See  of  Quebec,  Monseigneur  Oliver  Briaud,  for- 
bid his  clergy  to  have  any  intercourse  with  the  ecclesiastic  en- 
voy of  Congress,  whom  he  nevertheless  highly  respected,  and,  as  we 
fihall  see,  congratulated  most  warmly  on  his  subsequent  elevation 
to  the  Episcopacy.  In  the  extraordinary  history  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  the  case  of  this  Jesuit,  ambassador  from  a  Congress  of  Re- 
publican Protestants,  is  not  the  least  remarkable  episode ;  and 

*  Histoire  da  Canada,  ii.  422. 

t  Biographical  Sketch  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  40. 


'(r 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


45 


while  the  democrats  of  every  clime  reproach  the  children  of  St. 
Ignatius  with  being  the  tools  of  despotic  power,  they  can  oflFer 
Father  John  Carroll  as  a  sincere  patriot,  a  zealous  partisan  of  lib- 
erty, and  one  of  the  real  foundera  of  Amencan  independence. 

Note. — In  order  to  prove  that  Catholics  in  the  United  States  owe  the  en- 
joyment of  civil  and  political  rights  to  happy  circumstances,  and  not  to  the 
generosity  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  we  have  been  at  some  pains  to  draw 
up  the  following  table,  which  gives  the  period  when  the  several  States  ceased 
to  admit  the  exclusive  eligibility  of  Protestants.  This  work,  never  before 
done,  has  cost  us  some  trouble ;  but  we  deem  it  useful,  in  order  to  expose 
the  fallacy  of  the  wide-spread  idea  that  the  emancipation  of  Catholics  is  due 
to  the  Congress  of  1776.  It  will  be  o^  served,  too,  that  in  several  States  a 
man  must  believe  either  in  God  or  in  .  le  Christian  religion,  or  at  least  in  a 
future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment,  to  be  eligible  to  office.  This  is  far 
from  that  unbridled  liberty  which  is  supposed  to  reign  throughout  the  States. 
The  article  guaranteeing  liberty  of  conscience  is  generally  in  these  terms : 
"  The  profession  and  free  exercise  of  every  religious  creed  and  form  of  wor- 
ship is  and  shall  be  permitted  to  all ;  but  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
guaranteed  shall  not  be  extended  to  excuse  acts  of  licentiousness  or  practices 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State." 

In  the  following  list,  the  States  marked  t  were  colonized  by  France  or 
Spain,  and  the  free  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion  is  guaranteed  by  treaty. 

United  States — Founded  1776— Constitution  1787. — The  Declaration  of 
Independence  in  1776,  and  the  Articles  of  Confederation  in  1778.  The  Con- 
stitution of  1787  merely  provides  that  no  religious  test  shall  be  required  from 
any  officer  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  the  first  amendment  ratified  in 
1791  says:  "Congress  shall  pass  no  law  concerning  the  establishment  of  a 
religion  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof." 

Massachusetts — 1776 — Constitution  1779-80. — Cfberty  of  conscience.  The 
Legislature  may  levy  a  tax  to  support  the  Protestant  worship,  where  not  vol- 
untarily given.  Every  one  must,  to  hold  office,  abjure  under  oath  all  obedi- 
ence to  a  foreign  ecclesiastical  power.    This  oath  was  modified  in  1821. 

New  Hampshire — 1776 — Constitution  1792. — Liberty  of  conscience.  But 
the  ineligibility  of  Catholics,  established  prior  to  the  Revolution  by  the  Hoyal 
Charter,  has  still  the  force  of  law. 

Rhode  Island — 1776 — Charter  1663,  and  Constitution  1842,  grant  full  lib- 
erty of  conscience  without  any  test.    Penal  laws  repealed  1778. 

CoNNEcnouT — 1776 — Constitution  1818. — Liberty  of  conscience.  No  re- 
striction as  to  Catholicb. 

New  York— 1776— Constitution  1777. — Liberty  of  conscience.  But  for- 
eigners, to  be  naturalized,  must  abjure  all  foreign  allegiance,  temporal  and 
spiritual.    A  test  oath  was  also  passed,  and  remained  in  force  till  1806. 

New  Jebbst — 1776 — Constitution  1776. — Liberty  of  conscience.  No  Pro- 
testant inhabitant  shall  be  deprived  of  his  civil  and  political  rights.  The 
new  Constitution  in  1844  suppressed  this  clause. 


16 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


DsLAVABS — 1776— Constitution  1776  and  1881. — Liberty  of  conscience. 
No  test. 

Pennsylvania— 1776— Constitution  1790.— Liberty  of  conscience.  No 
man  who  believes  in  God  and  a  future  state  of  rewards  aud  punishment 
shall  be  excluded  from  office. 

Mabyland—1776— Constitution  1776. — No  test,  except  a  declaration  of  be- 
lief in  the  Christian  religion.  Every  one  professing  the  Christian  religion 
shall  be  free  to  practise  it. 

Virginia— 177G— Constitution  1776. — Liberty  of  conscience  1880.    No  test. 

North  Carolina— 1776— Constitution  1776.— Every  man  who  shall  deny 
the  existence  of  God,  or  the  truths  of  the  Protestant  religion,  or  the  divine 
authority  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  sl^ftll  not  hold  any  office  in  the 
State.    The  Constitution  of  1885  substituted  Christian  for  Protestant. 

Sooth  Carolina— 1776— Constitution  1790.— Free  exercise  of  religion  to 
all  mankind. 

Georoia—1776— Constitution  1798.- Liberty  of  conscience.  No  person 
lihall  be  molested  in  his  civil  rights  purely  for  religious  principle. 

Vermont— 1791— Constitution  1798. — No  test.  Every  sect  bound  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  and  have  some  worship. 

Tennessee — 1796 — Constitution  1796. — No  man  can  hold  office  that  denies 
the  existence  of  God  or  of  a  future  state  of  rewards  and  punishment. 

Kentucky — ^1799 — Constitution  1799. — Liberty  of  conscience.    No  test. 

Ohio — 1802 — Constitution  1802. — Liberty  of  conscience.    No  test. 

t  Louisiana — 1812 — Constitution  1812. — No  article  on  religion.  Clergymen 
excluded  fVom  office. 

t  Indiana — 1816. 

t  Mississippi — 1817. 

t  Illinois — 1818. 

t  Alabama — 1820. 

+  Maine— 1820. 

t  Missouri — 1821 — Constitution  1820. 

t  Arkansas— 1886. 

t  MioHiOAN— 1883. 

t  Florida— 1845— Constitution  1888. 

t  Texas- 1845. 

t  Iowa— 1846. 

t  Wisconsin— 1848. 

+  California — 1849. 

Liberty  of  conscience.    No  test.  < 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


47 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE    CHURCH    DURING   THE    REVOLUTION. 


Father  Oarroll  luid  Father  Floqaet— Father  Carroll  at  Book  Creeic 

We  have  thus  traced  to  its  close  the  embassv  of  Carroll  to  Can- 
ada.  One  episode  connected  with  it  may  not  be  uninteresting. 
The  Bishop  of  Quebec  had,  as  we  have  seen,  forbid  his  clergy  to 
have  any  intercourse  with  Father  Carroll.  One  of  the  priests  of 
Montreal,  for  a  supposed  infringement  of  this  order,  was  suspended 
and  summoned  to  Quebec.  His  letters  to  Monseigneur  Briand 
throw  considerable  light  on  the  public  feeling  in  Canada  at  the 
time,  and  on  the  mission  of  Father  Carroll. 

Father  Peter  R.  Floquet  had  been  twice  Superior  of  the  Jesuits 
in  Canada.  Although  a  native  of  France,  he  continued  to  reside 
in  Canada  after  the  conquest,  and  offended  the  government  by 
speaking  in  favor  of  the  American  colonies. 

"  I  was  complaisant  to  the  Americans  out  of  human  respect," 
says  he,  in  a  letter  to  the  bishop  on  the  15th  of  June,  1*776 ;  "if 
I  had  been  as  violent  against  them  as  many  others  were,  the 
whole  brunt  of  the  storm  would  have  fallen  on  my  head,  as  I  was 
the  only  Jesuit  at  Montreal.  I  would  have  served  as  an  example 
to  others,  and  perhaps  have  occasioned  a  persecution  of  my  con- 
freres in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland. 

"After  the  flight  of  the  king's  generals,  the  Montreal  deputies 
promised  the  Americans  a  true  or  a  false  and  deceptive  neutrality. 
I  believed  it  true  and  to  be  kept.  I  kept  it,  and  advised  others  to 
do  so ;  this  made  me  tolerant  to  both  parties  in  the  tribunal  of 
penance. 


/ 


48 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


"  The  American  Colonel  Hazea  commanded  for  some  time  at 
Montreal.  He  restored  to  me  the  part  of  our  house  which  Mr. 
Murray  had  turned  into  a  prison.  I  eojoyed  this  favor,  which  I 
had  not  sought,  and  I  thanked  the  author  of  it.  Mr.  Hazen  sent 
me  a  written  invitation  to  dinner.  I  dined  with  him  once,  accom- 
panied by  an  Irish  royalist  priest  who  lived  with  me,  and  who 
had  been  previously  intimate  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hazen. 

"Towards  the  close  of  the  winter,  the  Americans  raised  two 
companies  of  Canadian  militia,  Lieber  and  Oliver.  The  new  re- 
cruits were  on  garrison  duty  at  Montreal  when  the  paschal  season 
opened.  On  being  asked  to  hear  their  confessions,  I  consented  to 
receive  them,  if  I  could  be  assured  that  they  would  not  go  to  be- 
siege Quebec,  and  would  merely  do  service  peacefully  at  Montreal. 
On  Mr.  Oliver's  assuring  me  of  this,  I  yielded.  On  Easter  Tues- 
day, after  dinner,  I  began  to  hear  the  least  bad,  but  was  far  from 
approving  them.  Those  who  got  leave  to  receive  went  among 
the  crowd  to  the  parish  church  until  Low  Sunday  inclusively. 

"  On  Tuesday  after  Low  Sunday,  three  tardy  militia-men  re- 
ceived absolution  from  me,  and  presented  themselves  at  the  parish 
church.  They  were  publicly  repulsed.  I  confessed  and  commu- 
nicated therajanuis  clausis. 

"  In  truth,  in  conscience,  and  before  God,  am  I  an  American,  a 
rebel,  or  have  I  been  ?  No,  Monseigneur !  Last  fall,  when  they 
were  assembling  at  Montreal  the  habitans  of  good  will  for  an  ex- 
pedition which  failed,  no  one  received  them  better,  confessed  and 
communicated  more,  than  I  did.  I  told  those  who  consulted  me 
that  they  did  well  to  volunteer  for  the  king's  service,  and  that 
those  who  resisted  the  orders  did  wrong.  I  have  never  ceased 
chanting  the  '  Domine  Salvum'  and  the  prayer  for  the  king  at 
Benediction. 

"  A  Father  Carroll,  a  missionary  from  Maryland,  having  come 
to  Montreal  with  two  deputies  of  Congress,  presented  a  letter  of 
introduction  from  Father  Farmer,  the  first  missionary  at  Philadel- 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


49 


phia.  The  Seminary  saw  this  letter,  which  contained  nothing 
amist'.  Still  I  did  not  answer  it.  Father  Carroll  did  not  lodge 
with  me,  and  dined  with  me  but  once.  Ha  said  Mass  in  our 
house,  by  M.  Moutgolfier's  permission. 

"  I  have  said  nothing,  written  nothing,  done  nothing  for  the 
service  of  Congress  or  the  United  Colonies.  I  received  nothing 
from  them  but  our  own  house  in  a  very  dilapidated  state."* 

Both  sought,  with  equal  good  faith,  the  advantage  of  religion ; 
but  the  maze  of  politics  made  it  very  difficult  to  see  what  was 
most  beneficial  to  the  Church,  either  at  the  moment  or  in  future. 
The  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  every  reason  to  distrust  a  nation  in 
revolt,  distinguished  till  then  only  for  its  hostility  to  Catholics. 
Father  Floquet  had  reason  to  fear  that  too  avowed  an  opposition 
to  the  Americans  might  draw  down  a  persecution  on  the  mission- 
aries in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  Father  John  Can-oil  was 
right  in  seeking  to  gain  the  neutrality  of  the  Canadians.  The 
most  curious  part  >f  the  whole  aflfair  is,  to  see  the  American 
colonel  restoring  to  the  Jesuits  their  house  in  Montreal,  of  which 
the  English  governor  had  deprived  them,  and  inviting  the  rever- 
end fathers  to  dinner. 

That  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  had  no  motive  but  prudence,  wo 
shall  see  hereafter,  when  we  speak  of  Father  Carroll's  elevation  to 
the  episcopacy. 

On  his  return  from  Canada,  Father  John  Carroll  (for  we  now 


*  Archives  of  the  Archbishopric  of  Quebec.  Of  this  clergyman,  Mr.  Nor- 
Heux,  in  his  "  Abrege  Chronologique  et  historique  des  pr^tres  qui  ont  dcs- 
Bervi  le  Canada,"  says :  "  Father  Peter  J^.  Floquet,  a  native  of  Chatillon  in 
Champagne,  arrived  at  Quebec  in  1740.  After  having  been  several  times 
Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  both  at  Montreal  and  at  Quebec,  he  was  recalled  to 
Quebec  in  Jan.  1777.  Having  written  a  very  touching  submission  to  the 
bishop  on  the  29th  of  November,  1776,  he  was  relieved  fVom  the  interdict. 
Having  become  blind  in  1779,  he  died  at  his  convent  on  the  18th  of  July, 
1782,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven."  But  there  is  surely  confusion  here,  for 
there  was  only  one  Superior  of  the  mitssion,  who  resided  at  Quebec,  and  the 
houses  of  the  Jesuits  are  not  convents.    . 


w 


50 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


resume  his  history)  took  up  his  residence  with  his  mother  at  Rock 
Creek,  where  he  remained  during  the  rest  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  making  it  the  centre  of  a  vast  mission,  to  which  he  devoted 
liimself  with  zeal.  His  mother's  advanced  age  made  him  loth  to 
leave  her,  and  rather  than  be  separated  from  her,  he  gave  up  his 
share  in  the  distribution  of  the  revenues  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in 
Maryland. 

We  have  remarked  that  the  Society  of  Jesus,  notwithstanding 
the  bull  of  dissolution  in  1*773,  had  continued  to  act  in  Maryland 
under  their  constitutions.  Father  Lewis  was  then  Superior,  and  re- 
cognized as  such ;  but  whether  they  were  bound  to  obey  his  orders 
as  to  residence,  was  an  open  question.  Father  Carroll  thought 
not.  In  1779  he  wrote :  "I  have  care  of  a  very  large  congrega- 
tion— have  often  to  ride  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  to  the  sick ; 
'  besides  which,  I  go  once  a  month  between  fifty  and  sixty  miles  to 
another  congregation  in  Virginia ;  yet,  because  I  live  with  my 
mother,  for  whose  sake  alone  I  sacrificed  the  very  best  place  in 
England,  and  told  Mr.  Lewis  that  I  did  not  choose  to  be  subject 
to  be  removed  from  place  to  place,  now  that  we  had  no  longer 
the  vow  of  obedience  to  entitle  us  to  the  merit  of  it,  he  does  not 
choose  to  bear  any  part  of  my  expenses.  I  do  not  mention  this 
by  way  of  complaint,  as  I  am  perfectly  easy  at  present."* 

In  another  letter,  of  February  20th,  1782,  to  his  friend  Father 
Plowden,  Father  Carroll  sets  forth  the  difliculties  which  this  pro- 
longed subjection  might  create :  "  The  clergymen  here  continue 
to  live  in  the  old  form ;  it  is  the  effect  of  habit,  and  if  they  could 
promise  themselves  immortality,  it  would  be  well  enough ;  but  I 
regret  that  indolence  prevents  any  form  of  administration  being 
adopted  which  might  tend  to  secure  posterity  a  succession  of 
Catholic  clergymen,  and  secure  to  them  a  comfortable  subsistence. 
I  said  that  the  former  system  of  administration,  that  is,  '  every 


♦  Cited  by  Campbell  in  his  Life  of  Archbishop  Carroll. 
Magazine,  iii.  865. 


U.  S.  Catholic 


T7" 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


61 


thing  being  in  the  power  of  a  Supenor,'  continued ;  but  all  those 
checks  upon  him,  so  wisely  provided  by  our  former  constitutions, 
are  at  an  end."* 

The  enemies  of  the  Jesuits  have  often  reproached  them  for  not 
dispersing  huu  actually  persecuting  themselves,  on  learning  the 
Brief  of  Suppression.  To  believe  these  zealous  defenders  of  the 
rights  of  the  Holy  See,  fidelity  to  the  rule  of  St.  Ignatius,  when 
no  harm  resulted  to  the  Church,  was  a  contempt  of  the  supreme 
authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  To  these  severe  formalists, 
Father  Can'oll's  conduct  will  seem  a  proof  of  orthodoxy ;  and  as 
to  the  friends  of  the  Socisty,  they  will  readily  admit  that  the  ab- 
solute authority  of  a  local.  Superior  might  lead  to  serious  abuse, 
when  it  was  no  longer  controlled  by  that  of  the  General  and  by 
the  guarantees  with  which  the  constitutions  of  the  Society  have 
always  invested  each  member. 

The  life  of  Father  John  Carroll  has  few  traits  of  resemblance 
with  the  portraits  traced  by  some  historians,  and,  in  fact,  to  suc- 
ceed in  writing  any  thing  correct  as  to  the  history  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States,  we  have  been  compelled  to  forget  what  little 
has  been  published  in  France  on  this  ^rore,  and  confine  ourselves 
to  such  materials  as  we  could  aer  in  the  United  States;  other- 
wise we  should  merely  be  r<  j  Heating  a  series  of  errors  confidently 
copied  by  one  after  another.f 


I 


*  Id.  869. 

t  For  example,  Cretineftu  Joly  says :  "  At  the  moment  when  the  Society 
was  abolished  by  Clement  XIV.,  some  Jesuits  abandoned  Great  Britain  to 
retire  to  North  America,  their  native  land,  where  there  never  had  ^'  en  any 
priests  but  themselves.  John  Carroll  was  their  leader.  Bound  to  the  Insti- 
tute by  the  profession  of  the  four  vows,  Carroll  soon  won  the  esteem  of  that 
immortal  generation  which  was  preparing  in  silence  the  freedom  of  the  land. 
He  was  the  friend  of  Washington  and  Franklin,  the  counsel  of  that  Can  oil, 
his  brother,  who  labored  so  efficaciously  in  forming  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  The  learning  and  foresight  of  the  Jesuit  were  appreciated 
by  the  founders  of  American  liberty.  They  invited  him  to  sign  the  Act  of 
Confederation,  Attached  to  the  Protestant  worship,  they  were  about  to 
conaecrate  its  triumph  by  law ;  but  Catholicity,  in  the  person  of  the  Fathers 


w 


52 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


'  Even  Baron  Henrion  states  that  the  Maryland  clergy,  with  the 
consent  of  Congress,  expressed  to  Pope  Pius  VI.  their  desire  to 
have  a  bishop  in  the  United  States,*  and  Rohrbacher  makes  Con- 
gress urge  the  Pope  to  gratify  their  wishes.f  Nothing  can  be 
further  from  the  real  state  of  affairs.  The  fact  is,  that  when  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  was  accomplished,  the  ex- 
Jesuits  in  Maryland  wished  to  be  no  longer  dependent  on  a  Vicar- 
apostolic  in  England,  in  order  to  give  no  umbrage  to  the  new 


of  the  Society,  appeared  to  them  bo  tolerant  and  so  well  fitted  for  civilizing 
the  Indiana,  that  they  could  not  refuse  John  Carroll  the  establishment  of 
the  principle  of  religious  independence.  Carroll  was  admitted  to  discuss  the 
basis  of  it  with  them.  He  laid  it  down  so  clearly,  that  freedom  of  worship 
has  never  l»een  infringed  in  the  United  States.  The  Americans  bound  them- 
selves to  maintain  it ;  nor  did  they  feel  at  liberty  to  betray  their  oath,  even 
when  they  saw  the  extension  given  by  the  missionaries  to  the  Koman  faith." 
— Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,  8d  ed.  vi.  276.  This  paragraph  con- 
tains almost  as  many  errors  as  words.  To  make  the  Jesuits  the  only  priests 
in  North  America  is  strange  indeed,  when  it  is  not  true  even  of  Maryland. 
Father  Carroll  came  alone  and  brought  none  with  him.  He  was  not  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  Washington — at  least,  we  find  no  proof  of  his  ever  having 
been  intimate  with  him.  In  1800,  Carroll,  then  bishop  of  Baltimore,  de- 
livered a  funeral  oration  on  "Washington,  but  nowhere  alludes,  as  he  would 
naturally  do,  to  any  personal  intimacy.  His  friendship  with  Franklin  was 
indeed  real,  but  it  is  an  error  to  muke  him  a  signer  of  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation. Charles  Carroll  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
Daniel  Carroll,  a  brother  of  the  bishop,  signed  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  Father  Carroll  could  not  have  spoken  before  the  Congress  or  the 
Convention  on  the  topic  of  religious  freedom,  for  it  was  not  raised,  is  not 
guaranteed  in  the  Constitution,  pnd  is  only  mentioned  in  the  amendments 
subsequently  adopted,  by  which  each  State  reserves  to  itself  the  right  to 
legislate  on  the  point.  This  error  is  repeated  in  tlie  Annales  do  la  Propaga- 
tion de  )a  Foi,  vol.  xxii.  p.  335.  What  Mr.  Cretineau  Joly  means  by  saying 
that  Congress  was  about  to  consecrate  by  law  the  triumph  of  Protestantism, 
it  would  be  hard  to  say :  the  silence  of  the  Constitution  on  the  subject  has 
destroyed  the  preponderance  of  Protestantism.  Congress  took  no  steps 
towards  civilizing  the  Indians,  and  could  not  have  made  that  a  motive  for 
any  step ;  and  as  to  the  assertion  that  liberty  of  worship  has  never  been  in- 
fringed in  the  United  States,  we  deny  the  hardy  assertion  and  appeal  to 
history. 

*  Histoire  Gen^rale  des  Missions  Catlioliques,  ii.  662,  where  he  makes 
Carroll  Vicar-general  of  the  Vicar-apostolic  of  London. 

t  Rohrbacher,  Histoire  Umverselle  de  I'Eglise  Calholique,  xxvii.  279. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


political  organization  in  America.  They  accordingly  addressed  a 
memorial  to  the  Holy  See  on  the  6th  of  November,  1783,  to  so- 
licit the  nomination  of  a  Superior  in  spiritualibus,  to  be  chosen 
from  among  themselves.  But  far  from  asking  the  erection  ot  a 
See  at  Baltimore,  the  Maryland  missionaries  thought  it  not  desiia- 
ble  for  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  we  may  even  say  that 
they  dreaded  the  sending  of  a  Vicar-apostolic. 

In  connection  with  this  subject,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  Cardinal  of  York  then  exercised  at  Rome  an  often  preponder- 
ating influence  in  the  choice  of  Vicars-apostolic  for  England. 
The  high  birth  of  the  royal  cardinal  enabled  him  indeed  to  exer- 
cise a  great  control  in  the  religious  affairs  of  the  three  kingdoms ; 
and  his  hostility  to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  had  led  him  to 
seize  their  house  at  Frascati  the  very  day  after  their  suppression, 
was  a  secret  to  none.  The  Vicars-apostolic  in  England  named 
in  such  circumstances  had  frequent  disputes  with  the  ex-Jesuits  in 
England.  Those  in  Maryland  might  reasonably  fear  that  the  arrival 
of  a  prelate,  a  creature,  in  all  probability,  of  the  Cardinal  of  York, 
would  only  bring  trouble  and  confusion.  Besides  this,  the  pov- 
erty of  their  missions,  and  the  petty  number  of  American  Catho- 
lics, made  them  believe  the  faithful  unable  to  support  a  bishop 
with  dignity.  They  wished  first  to  recruit  a  more  numerous 
clergy,  in  order  to  provide  the  scattered  Catholics  with  pastors, 
now  that  their  religious  worship  was  no  longer  proscribed. 

The  number  of  Catholics  in  1783  might  amount  in  Maryland 
to  sixteen  thousand  souls,  chiefly  farmers  and  planters  in  the 
rural  districts.  In  Pennsylvania  there  were  about  seven  thousand, 
and  in  the  other  States  about  fifteen  hundred.*  This  computa- 
tion did  not  include  the  French  Canadians  in  the  country  on  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi,  which  had  been  surrendered  to  the  United 
States  by  the  treaty  of  1783.     The  white  inhabitants  of  tliis  ter- 


*  TbiH  is  Bishop  Carroll's  calculation.    See  Biographical  Sketch,  p.  70. 


64 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ritory  were  all  Catholics,  and  amounted  probably  to  four  thou- 
sand ;  but  they  were  still  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  and  the  Maryland  missionaries  had  no  connection  with 
them.  The  march  of  Rochambeau's  army  through  several  States, 
where  Mass  had  never  before  been  said,  brought  to  light  Catl:  > 
lies  in  many  places  where  they  were  not  known  to  exist ;  and  the 
army  chaplains  were  often  surrounded  by  the  descendants  of 
Irishmen  or  Acadians,  who  now  saw  a  priest  for  the  first  time, 
and  implored  them  to  stay.*  It  became  urgent  to  furnish  spir- 
itual succor  to  these  forsaken  Catholics. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    CHURCH    IN   THE    REPUBLIC. 
Maryland  (l7T(r-1790)— Negotiattoos  for  the  erection  of  an  Episcopal  See. 

Father  Lewis,  Vicar-general  of  Maryland,  called  a  general 
meeting  of  all  the  missionaries  to  deliberate  on  the  state  of  reli- 
gion, and  two  meetings  for  this  purpose  were  held  at  Whitemarsh 
on  the  27th  of  June  and  6th  of  November,  1*783.  It  was  at  the 
latter  meeting  that  the  memorial  to  the  Sacred  Congregation  "  de 
propaganda  fide,"  already  mentioned,  was  signed.    A  committee 

*  One  of  these  chaplains  wrote  an  account  of  his  travels :  "  Nouveau 
Voyage  dans  I'Am^rique  Septentrionale  en  1781  et  campagne  de  i'armie  du 
Comte  de  Rochambeau,  par  1'  Abb6  Robin,  Philadelph  e  et  Paris,  1 782."  The 
author  shows  himself  unfortunately  imbued  with  "ome  of  the  philosophical 
ideas  of  the  time,  and  instead  of  displaying  zeal  for  the  destitute  Catholics, 
indulges  in  a  dull  enthusiasm  for  the  Revolution.  We  had  expected  to  find 
in  this  rare  work  some  interesting  details,  but  meet  only  superficial  observa- 
tions. He  officiated  at  Baltimore  to  the  great  joy,  he  says,  of  the  Acadians 
there,  then  chiefly  sailors. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


55 


was  also  appointed  to  draw  up  a  regulation  "  to  establish  a  form 
of  government  for  the  clergy,  and  lay  down  rules  for  the  adminis- 
tration and  government  of  their  property."  This  regulation,  in 
eighteen  articles,  adopted  by  the  missionaries  on  the  11th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1784,  established  a  general  chapter  and  district  chapters, 
appointed  a  Procurator  distinct  from  the  Superior  in  ^ritualibuSj 
subjecting  the  latter's  measures  to  the  approval  of  the  district 
chapters.  These  arrangements,  taken  without  any  canonical  au- 
thority, could  of  course  be  only  provisional,  and  Father  Farmer, 
one  of  the  missionaries,  thus  speaks  of  them  in  a  letter  to  Father 
Carroll,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1785  : 

"  I  cannot  conceive  how  we  could  be  a  body  without  a  bishop 
for  a  head.  We  may  have  a  voluntary  union  among  ourselves,  I 
allow,  but  it  cannot  constitute  us  a  canonical  body  of  clergy,  un- 
less declared  snd  appointed  as  such  either  by  the  Supreme  Pas- 
tor, or  ratber  '^ ,  .  bishop  set  over  us  by  him.  Our  association, 
even  in  temp  ;  v  f«,  I  am  afraid,  will  be  looked  upon  rather  as 
a  combination."* 

It  was  evident  that  some  germs  of  independence  were  develop- 
ing in  the  Maryland  clergy,  in  contact  with  the  spirit  of  political 
and  religious  rebellion  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  American 
character.  But  the  Holy  See  watched  with  paternal  solicitude 
over  the  rising  Church  of  America,  and  on  beholding  the  princi- 
ples of  toleration  for  Catholicity,  which  Protestantism  now  first 
acknowledged  in  the  United  States,  Rome  at  once  saw  the  pre- 
cious advantage  to  be  gained  for  religion.  The  Holy  See  imme- 
diately thought  of  establishing  the  Church  in  Maryland  on  a 
more  independent  base,  and  of  releasing  it  from  all  spiritual 
subordination  to  England.  It  thus  anticipated  the  wishes  of  the 
missionaries  assembled  at  Whitemarsh ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
showing  a  sincere  deference  for  the  government  of  the  United 


*  Campbell  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  800. 


56 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


States,  transmitted,  through  Monseigneur  Doria,  archbishop  of  Se- 
leucia  and  nuncio  at  the  court  of  Paris,  the  following  note  to  Dr. 
Franklin,  then  American  minister  at  Paris : 

'     "The   Nuncio-apostolic  has  the  honor  to   transmit  to  Mr. 
Franklin  the  subjoined  note.    He  requests  him  to  cause  it  to  be 
presented  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
and  to  support  it  with  i±A  influence. 
"July  28, 1788." 

Note. — ^"  Previous  to  the  revolution  which  has  just  been  com- 
pleted in  the  United  States  of  North  America,  the  Catholics  and 
missionaries  of  those  provinces  depended,  in  spiritual  matters,  on 
the  Vicar-apostolic  residing  in  London.  It  is  now  evident  that 
this  arrangement  can  be  no  longer  maintained  ;  but,  as  it  is  ne- 
cessary that  the  Catholic  Christians  of  the  United  States  should 
have  an  ecclesiastic  to  govern  them  in  matters  pertaining  to  reli- 
gion, the  Congregation  "de  propaganda  fide,"  exist"  ng  at  Rome, 
for  the  establishment  and  preservation  of  missions,  have  come  to 
the  determination  to  propose  to  Congress  to  establish  in  one  of 
the  cities  of  the  United  States  of  North  America  one  of  their 
Catholic  brethren,  with  the  authority  and  pov/er  of  Vicar-apos- 
tolic, and  the  dignity  o^  Bishop;  oi  simply  with  the  rank  of 
Apostolical  Prefect.  The  institution  of  a  Bishop  Vicar-apostolic 
appep^  the  most  suitable,  insomuch  as  the  Catholics  of  the 
United  States  may  have  within  their  reach  the  reception  of  con- 
firmation and  orders  in  their  own  country.  And  as  it  may  some- 
times happen  that  among  the  members  of  the  Catholic  body  in 
the  United  States,  no  one  may  be  found  qualified  to  undertake  the 
charge  of  the  spiritual  government,  either  as  Bishop  or  Pr*  ct- 
apostolic,  it  may  be  necessary,  under  such  circumstances,  that 
Congress  should  consent  to  have  one  selected  from  some  foreign 
nation  on  close  terms  of  friendship  with  the  United  States." 

The  Maryland  missionaries  learned  this  project  through  their 


IN  THE    UNITED  bXATES. 


67 


agent  at  "^oiae,  Father  John  Thorpe,  an  English  ex-Jesuit,  who 
resided  therj  from  1756  till  his  death  in  1792.  They  also  learned 
the  action  of  Congress  on  the  Nuncio's  note,  and,  still  believing 
that  the  time  had  not  come  for  a  bishop  lu  the  United  States, 
took,  in  October,  1784,  the  following  curious  resolution: 

"  It  is  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of  the  chapter,  that  a  Suporior 
in  spiritualibus,  with  powers  to  give  confirmation,  grant  faculties, 
dispensations,  bless  oils,  etc.,  is  adequate  to  the  present  exigencies 
of  religion  in  this  country.     Resolved,  therefore, 

"  1st.  That  a  bishop  is  at  present  unnecessary. 

"  2d.  That  if  one  be  sent,  it  is  decided  by  the  majority  of  the 
chapter,  that  he  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  support  from  the 
present  estates  of  the  clergy. 

"  3d.  That  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  and 
give  an  answer  to  Rome,  conformable  to  the  above  resolution. 

"  4th.  That  the  best  measures  be  taken  to  bring  in  six  proper 
clergymen  as  soon  as  possible,  and  the  means  be  furnished  by  the 
chapter  out  of  the  general  fund,  except  when  otherwise  provided." 

The  letter  to  the  Holy  Father  was  prepared  and  signed,  on  be- 
half of  his  associates,  by  Father  Bernard  Diderick,  who  transmitted 
it  to  Father  Thorpe  at  Rome.  The  latter  had  the  good  sense  not 
to  deliver  it,  and  the  Holy  See  could  thus  officially  ignore  a  hasty 
and  inconsiderate  step.  Dissatisfaction  at  not  having  been  con- 
sulted by  the  Propaganda  doubtless  caused  this  resolution  of  the 
chapter,  but  the  Court  of  Rome  never  intended  to  offend  the 
zealous  missionaries  of  Maryland,  whose  labors  it  highly  appreci- 
ated. Their  advice  had  even  been  sought,  and  as  early  as  May 
12,  1784,  seven  months  before  the  Whiteraarsh  resolutions,  the 
Apostolic  Nuncio  at  Paris  wrote  to  Father  John  Carroll : 


"The  interests  of  religion,  sir,  requiring  new  arrangements 
relative  to  the  missions  in  the  United  States  of  North  America, 
the  Congregation  of  the  Piopaganda  direct  me  to  request  from 

3* 


T 


58 


THE  Catholic  church 


you  a  full  statement  of  the  actual  condition  of  those  missions.  In 
the  mean  time,  I  b'^g  that  you  will  inform  me  what  number  of 
missionaries  may  be  necessary  to  serve  them  and  furnish  spiritual 
aid  to  Catholic  Christians  in  the  United  States ;  in  what  provin- 
ces there  are  Catholics,  and  where  is  the  greatest  number  of  them ; 
and  lastly,  if  there  are,  among  the  natives  of  the  country,  fit  sub- 
jects to  receive  holy  orders  and  exercise  the  function  of  missiona- 
ries. You  will  greatly  oblige  me  personally  by  the  attention  and 
industry  which  you  will  exercise  in  procuring  for  me  this  infor- 
mation. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  esteem  and  consideration,  sir, 
your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

"  f  J.,  Archbishop  of  Seleucia, 
' '  .  "  Apostolical  Nuncio." 

This  letter,  in  consequence  of  the  vicissitudes  of  navigation, 
reached  Father  Carroll  only  in  November.  Monseigneur  Doria, 
Nuncio  at  Paris,  had  added  a  memorandum  of  questions,  from 
which  we  extract  two : 

"  1.  Who  among  the  missionaries  might  be  the  most  worthy, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  agreeable  to  the  members  of  the  assembly 
of  those  provinces,  to  be  invested  with  the  character  of  Bishop  in 
partibus,  and  the  quality  of  Vicar-apostolic  ? 

"  2.  If  among  these  ecclesiastics  there  is  a  native  of  the  coun- 
try, and  he  should  be  among  the  most  worthy,  he  should  be  pre- 
ferred to  all  others  cf  equal  merit.  Otherwise  choice  should  be 
made  of  one  from  some  other  nation.  In  default  of  a  missionary 
actually  residing  in  those  provinces,  a  Frenchman  will  be  nomi- 
nated, who  will  go  to  establish  himself  in  America."* 

But  the  Holy  See,  in  its  admirable  prudence,  understanding 
that  the  negotiations  for  the  establishment  of  a  bishop  would  re- 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  878. 


.^-  -r 


IN    THE   UNITED   STATES. 


59 


quire  time,  resolved  in  the  interim  to  give  Maryland  a  provisional 
ecclesiastical  organization ;  and  the  Propaganda,  jrielding  to  the 
wish  expressed  in  the  first  memorial  of  the  American  missionaries, 
named  Carroll  Superior  of  the  mission,  with  extended  powers,  and 
exempted  Maryland  from  all  dependence  on  the  Vicariate  Apos- 
tolic of  London.  This  choice  shows  that  Rome  already  thought 
of  the  same  Father  as  one  proper  to  raise  to  the  Episcopal  dig- 
nity, and  of  this  we  have  a  proof  in  Thorpe's  letter  to  Carroll, 
dated  at  Rome,  June  9, 1784 : 

"Dear  Sir: — This  evening  ample  faculties  are  sent  by  the 
Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  empowering  you  to  confer  tlie 
sacrament  of  cocfirmation,  bless  oils,  etc.,  until  such  time  as  the 
necessary  information  shall  be  taken  in  North  America  and  sent 
hither,  for  promoting  you  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  a  bishop. 
On  their  arrival  here  you  will  be  accordiiigly  so  nominated  by  the 
Pope,  and  the  place  determined  for  your  consecration.  Cardinal 
Borromeo  sent  for  me  to  give  me  this  intelligence,  on  the  veracity 
of  which  you  may  entirely  depend,  though  you  should  not,  from 
any  mistake,  have  received  it  from  other  hands.  hen  the  Nun- 
cio, M.  Doria,  at  Paris,  applied  to  Mr.  Franklin,  the  old  gentle- 
man remembered  you;  he  had  his  memory  refreshed  before, 
though  you  had  modestly  put  your  own  name  in  the  last  place  of 
the  list.  I  heartily  congratulate  your  countiy  for  having  obtained 
so  worthy  a  pastor.  Whatever  I  can  ever  be  able  to  do  in  seiz- 
ing your  ^    \  for  religion  shall  always  be  at  your  command. 

''  I  am  ever  most  aflfectionately  and  most  respectfully  yours, 

J.  Thorpe."* 

It  is  curious  to  see  in  Franklin's  memoirs  the  influence  of  this 
philosopher  in  an  event  so  important  to  the  Church,  and  we  shall 


*  U.  8.  Catholio  Magazine,  iii-.  379. 


60 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


be  excused  for  transferring  the  following  page,  which  belongs  to 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States : 

"1784,  July  ^st. — The  Pope's  Nuncio  called,  and  acquainted 
me  that  the  P<pe  had,  on  my  recommendation,  appointed  Mr. 
John  Carroll  Superior  of  the  v^atholic  clergy  in  America,  with 
many  of  the  powers  of  a  bishop,  and  that  probably  he  would  be 
made  a  bishop  in  partibus  before  the  end  of  the  year.  He  asked 
which  would  be  most  convenient  for  him — to  come  to  France,  or 
to  go  to  St.  Domingo  for  ordination  by  another  bishop,  which 
was  necessary.  I  mentioned  Quebec  as  more  convenient  than 
either.  He  asked  whether,  as  that  was  an  English  province,  our 
government  might  not  take  offence  at  his  going  thither.  I 
thought  not,  unless  the  ordination  by  that  bishop  should  give 
him  some  authority  over  our  bishop.  He  said  not  in  the  least ; 
that  when  our  bishop  was  once  ordained,  he  would  be  indepen- 
dent of  the  other,  and  even  of  the  Pope,  which  I  did  not  clearly 
understand.  He  said  the  Congregation  "de  propaganda  fide" 
had  agreed  to  receive  and  maintain  and  instruct  two  young 
Americans  in  the  languages  and  sciences  a''  Rome.  He  had  for- 
merly told  me  that  more  would  be  educated  gratis  in  France. 
He  adde<l,  they  had  written  from  America  that  there  are  twenty 
priests,  hut  that  they  are  not  suflScient,  as  the  new  settlements 
near  the  Mississippi  have  need  of  some. 

"  The  Nuncio  said  we  should  find  that  the  Catholics  were  not 
so  intolerant  as  they  had  been  represented ;  that  the  Inquisition 
:n  Lome  had  not  now  so  much  power  as  that  in  Spain ;  and  that 
in  Spain  it  was  used  chiefly  as  a  prison  of  state ;  that  the  Con- 
gregation would  have  undertaken  the  education  of  more  American 
youths,  and  may  hereafter,  but  that  at  present  they  are  overbur- 
dened, having  some  from  all  parts  of  the  world."* 

Franklin  communicated  to  Congress  the  projects  of  the  Court 

*  Spftrks'  Life  ivvi  Writin**  of  Franklia,  i.  59.    Cited  by  Campbell. 


:■  / 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


m 


of  Rome,  and  received  an  answer  to  the  effect  that  the  Federal 
government  had  no  opinion  to  express  on  a  question  not  in  its 
jurisdiction.  Religious  affairs  were  under  the  control  of  the  sev- 
eral States.  This  was  at  least  showing  the  absence  of  all  opposi- 
tion to  a  Catholic  hierarchy ;  and  if  Protestant  fanaticism  did  not 
attempt  to  excite  the  people  and  initate  religious  passions,  it  was 
because  France  was  too  necessary  an  ally  to  permit  any  insult  to 
the  religious  feelings  of  Louis  XVI.  That  monarch,  it  was 
known,  took  a  lively  interest  in  tlie  spread  of  Catholicity  in 
America,  and  France  may  thus  claim  the  glory  of  having  given 
its  powerful  aid  to  the  Holy  See  in  founding  the  American  Epis- 
copate. 

We  have  gone  at  some  length  into  these  little  known  negotia- 
tions, because  we  know  nothing  better  fitted  to  inspire  confidence 
and  esteem  for  the  tutelary  authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontificate. 
The  Maryland  missionaries  believe  it  to  be  for  the  interest  of  re- 
ligion that  the  United  States  should  be  erected  into  a  Church  in- 
dependent of  England. .  Rome  anticipates  their  desires,  and  her 
paternal  solicitude,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  discovers  the 
wants  of  remote  churches,  even  before  the  latter  express  them. 
The  missionaries  fear  lest,  some  hostile  influence  should  disregard 
their  rights  or  compromise  the  fruit  of  their  labors.  The  Holy 
See  kindly  hears  their  representations,  well  founded  at  times,  and 
far  from  being  8\\ayed  by  any  party,  religious  or  political,  tries 
above  all  to  secure  the  permanent  interests  of  religion  in  a  coun- 
try whose  government,  laws,  and  institutions,  so  different  from 
those  of  Europe,  were  then  but  imperfectly  understood.  Hence 
the  prudent  precaution  to  obtain  the  approval,  or  at  least  the  neu- 
trality of  Congress,  and  the  eagerness  to  choose  a  person  named 
by  the  representative  of  the  United  States  at  Paris.  The  Mary- 
land clergy  desire  that  the  Superior  should  be  taken  from  among 
them,  and  Rome  at  once  concedes  it.  They  see  no  immediate 
opportunity  for  the  appointment  c^  a  bishop.    Rome  consents  to 


I     V 


62 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


postpone  its  projects,  the  wisdom  of  which  is  now  so  palpable,  in- 
asmuch as  the  great  progress  of  religion  in  the  United  States 
can,  as  all  admit,  be  attributed  only  to  the  foundation  of  the 
Episcopate.  But  when  the  missionaries  see  that  Rome  is  un- 
changeable, they  represent  that,  in  order  not  to  excite  fanaticism, 
the  creation  of  a  titular  bishop,  enjoying  all  his  rights,  would  suit 
America  better  than  a  Vicar-apostolic,  whose  immediate  depend- 
ency on  the  Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide"  would  seem  to 
constitute  a  sort  of  religious  servitude.  The  Holy  See  welcomed 
this,  too,  and  thus  this  question  of  titular  bishops,  which  has  been 
so  misunderstood  in  England,  and  considered  by  the  partisans  of 
the  established  Church  as  augmenting  the  direct  authority  of  the 
See  of  Rome,  this  question,  more  justly  appreciated  in  America, 
was  presented  as  a  means  of  reconciling  nice  republican  suscepti- 
bility to  the  foundation  of  a  Catholic  hierarchy.  Rome  went 
further  in  order  to  prove  to  the  worthy  American  missionaries 
her  affection  and  appreciation  of  their  zeal  and  labors.  When  in 
fact  they  appreciated  the  ^news  of  tha  Sovereign  Pontiff,  they  re- 
ceived an  authorization  to  proceed  themselves  to  the  election  of  a 
bishop,  to  be  submitted  to  the  Court  of  Rome,  as  Father  Carroll 
recounts  in  these  terms,  in  a  letter  of  1789  :* 

"  In  the  middle  of  last  month,  I  received  a  letter  from  Cardinal 
Antonelli,  dated  in  July  last,  in  which  he  informs  me  that  his 
Holiness  has  granted  our  request  for  an  ordinary  bishop,  whose 
See  is  to  be  fixed  by  ourselves,  and  the  choice  made  by  the  offici- 
ating piiests.  We  are  going  to  take  the  affair  up  immediately, 
and  God  will,  I  hope,  direct  us  to  make  a  good  choice.    This 

*  Pius  VT.  had  appointed  a  committee  of  cardinals  of  the  Congreoration 
"  de  propaganda  fide"  to  examine  this  affair ;  and  on  the  12tli  of  July,  17S9, 
n  decree  wus  approved  by  the  Pope,  directing  all  tlie  priests  oxeroising  the 
ministry  in  the  United  States  to  assemble  and  determine  in  what  city  the  See 
should  be,  and  who  of  themselves  seemed  most  worthy  to  be  raised  to  tlio 
Episcopacy— a  privilege  granted  &a  a  favor,  aud  for  that  f.'me  only.  (Kolir- 
bouher,  xxvii.  279.) 


•Mf 


c  / 


IN  THE  UmriD  STATES. 


«»' 


trust  is  my  consolation.    Otherwise  I  should  be  full  of  apprehen- 
sion to  see  the  choice  fall  where  it  might  be  fatal." 

This  expression  shows  that  Father  Carroll  dreaded  to  see  him- 
self chosen  for  the  eminent  post  to  which  his  high  merit,  and  the 
success  with  which  he  had  for  five  years  administered  the  mis- 
sions as  Superior  or  Prefect-apostolic,  called  him.  In  fact,  the 
election  took  place  in  May,  1789,  and  Father  Carroll  being  cho- 
sen Bishop  of  Baltimore,  the  choice  was  ratified  at  Rome  on  the 
6th  of  November  in  that  year. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


DIO0E8K    OF   BALTIMORE. 

Gonsocration  of  Bishop  Carroll— Jesuit  college  at  Georgetown— Sulpltlan  seminary  at 
Baltimore— The  French  clergy  In  the  United  States— Bishop  Neale  coadjutor— Beor- 
ganization  of  the  Society  of  Jesus — Importance  of  French  immigration. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1789,  Pope  Pius  VI.  founded  the 
Episcopal  See  of  Baltimore,  instituting  Father  John  Carroll  as  first 
bishop;  and  thus,  at  the  moment  when  the  revolution  preluded  the 
tempest  which  was  for  a  time  to  engulf  the  Church  of  France,  Provi- 
dence raised  up  beyond  the  ocean  another  Church,  where  the  noble 
exiles  of  the  priesthood  were  to  find  a  hospitable  refuge.  The 
new  prelate  no  sooner  received  the  Bulls  from  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff" than  he  proceeded  to  England  to  be  consecrated.  The  pious 
Thomas  Weld  wished  the  ceremony  to  take  place  in  his  castle  of 
Lulworth,  and  that  ancient  pile,  honored  in  our  day  by  the  pi-es- 
ence  of  the  exiled  king,  Charles  X.,  is  identified  with  the  origin 
of  the  Episcopacy  in  the  United  States.  The  consecration  took 
place  in  the  college  chapel  on  Sunday,  August  Idtb,  1790;  and 


64 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


in  remembraace  of  that  day,  Bishop  Carroll  chose  the  feast  of 
the  Assumption  as  the  patronal  feast  of  his  vast  diocese.  The 
sermon  was  delivered  by  Father  Charles  Plowden,  and  the  conse- 
crating prelate  was  the  learned  and  scientific  Bishop  Walmsley, 
the  Dean  of  the  Vicars-apostolic  in  England.  Bishop  Carroll  re- 
embarked  foi  lialtimore  the  following  October,  and  by  a  curious 
coincidence  he  was,  both  going  and  coming,  a  fellow-voyager  of 
Mr.  Madison,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Virginia,  who 
had  also  been  to  Ergland  to  obtain  Episcopal  institution.  Mr. 
Madison  conceived  a  high  esteem  for  the  Catholic  prelate,  and 
maintained  it  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  Bishop  of  Baltimore  zealously  undertook  four  enterprises  es- 
sential to  the  religious  prospects  of  the  United  States — the  Catholic 
education  of  youth,  the  formation  of  a  national  clergy,  the  erection 
of  churches,  the  foundation  of  female  communities  to  take  care  of 
the  sick  and  orphans.  The  first  of  these  works  was  the  most  urgent, 
for  it  was  imperative  to  furnish  Catholic  youth  a  Catholic  educa- 
tion at  home,  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  dangers  of  Pro- 
testant schools.  As  early  as  1788,  Bishop  Carroll,  then  only 
Vicar-general,  had  begun  the  erection  of  Georgetown  College,  and 
the  ex-Jesuits  employed  a  part  of  the  Society's  property  for  the 
creation  of  that  useful  establishment.  The  Jesuits  were  at  first 
too  few  to  perform  at  once  the  functions  of  missionary  priests  and 
those  of  teachers ;  they  called  to  their  aid  at  Georgetown  priests 
of  other  societies.  Thus  the  Reverend  Louis  Dubourg,  a  Sulpitian 
and  eventually  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  was  President  of  the  col- 
lege in  1796,  and  another  Sulpitian,  Ambrose  Marechal,  Professor 
of  Philosophy  in  1799.  But  even  before  the  restoration  of  the 
Society  in  1814,  the  disciples  of  St.  Ignatius  had  the  exclusive 
direction  of  the  noble  college  which  for  the  last  sixty-five  years 
has  brought  up  generations  in  science  and  letters.  By  a  bappy 
turn  of  affairs  which  contributed  to  give  a  considerable  import- 
dooe  to  Georgetown,  the  site  of  the  federal,  city  of  Washington 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


65 


wm  chosoii  Hcarce  a  league  from  the  college,  so  thai  the  Jesuits 
found  themselves  stationed  at  the  very  gates  of  the  capitol.*  In 
1816  Congress  invest*.  J  this  college  with  the  privileges  of  a  uni- 
versity, and  this  foundation  of  bishop  Carroll  remains  one  of  his 
greatest  titles  to  fame. 

The  Bishop  of  Baltimore  had  at  first  intended  to  open  a  serai- 
nary  also  at  Georgetown ;  but  during  a  visit  to  England,  he  en- 
tered into  correspondence  with  Mr.  Emery,  Superior-general  of 
the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  whose  wise  foresight  then  sought  to 
shelter  his  Society  from  the  storms  of  the  revolution.  V  hen 
Mr.  Emery  saw  the  National  Assembly  of  France  threaten  with 
destruction  all  the  religious  institutions  of  that  country,  he  e- 
solved  to  prepare  a  refuge,  that  St.  Sulpice  might  be  preserved 
from  total  extinction,  in  case  it  should  be  suppressed  at  Paris. 
He  accordingly  sent  his  assistant,  Mr.  'N&y  >t,  to  London,  and 
we  may  easily  conceive  how  eagerly  Bishop  Carroll  welcomed 
his  overtures,  from  the  following  letter  of  September  25th, 
1790: 

"  Providence  seems  to  favor  our  views.  In  consequence  of  a 
previous  correspondence  between  the  Nuncio  at  Paris  and  Mr. 
Emery,  Superior-general  of  St.  Sulpice,  on  the  one  hand,  and  my- 
self on  the  other,  Mr.  Nagot,  Superior  du  Petit  Seminaire  de  St. 
Sulpice,  has  been  here.  We  have  settled  that  two  or  three  gen- 
tlemen selected  by  Mr.  Emery  shall  come  over  to  Baltim'^ro  next 
spring.  They  are  furnished  with  the  means  of  purchasing  -^  >und 
for  buildings,  and,  I  hope,  of  endowing  a  seminary  for  young 
ecclesiastics.  I  believe  they  will  bring  three  or  four  f^^^eminarians 
with  them,  who  are  either  English,  or  know  it.     They  will  be 


>n 


*  Cretineau  Joly  (vi.  868)  says  that  Georgetown  College  was  founded 
almost  at  the  gates  of  Waahington.  Just  the  reverse.  The  college  was 
opened  in  1791,  Washington  created  in  1792.  Georgetown  College  contains 
two  hundred  and  sixty  boarders,  and  the  Jesuit  day-schools  in  Washington 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  more. 


66 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


amply  provided  with  books,  apparatus  for  the  altar,  church,  etc.^ 
professors  of  philosophy  and  divinity.  I  propose  fixing  these 
very  near  to  my  own  home,  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore,  that  they 
may  he,  as  it  were,  the  clergy  of  the  church,  and  contribute  to 
the  dignity  of  divine  worship.  This  is  a  great  and  auspicious 
event  for  our  diocese,  but  it  is  a  inelancholy  reflection  that 
we  owe  so  great  a  blessing  to  the  lamentable  catastrophe  in 
France."* 

Mr.  Nagot  returned  to  Paris  to  put  the  plan  in  execution,  but 
the  Sulpitians  experienced  great  difficulties  in  realizing  a  part  of 
their  property  and  iu  sailing  for  America,  in  consequence  of  the 
political  convulsions  of  that  wretched  period.  They  were  power- 
fully aided,  especially  in  the  transfer  of  the  funds,  by  Governeur 
Morris,  American  ambassador  at  Paris ;  and  at  last,  on  the  8th 
of  April,  1791,  Mr.  F.  C.  Nagot,  Superior,  embarked  at  St.  Malo, 
accompanied  by  Mr.  Levadoux,  Procurator,  Messrs.  John  Tessier 
and  Anthony  Gamier,  Professors  of  Theology,  and  Mr.  Delavan, 
a  Cation  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours.f  They  had  with  them  five  semi- 
narians, and  lastly,  a  fellow-voyager  of  quite  a  different  stamp, 
the  young  J  rancis  de  Chateaubriand,  then  on  his  way  to  America 
in  pursuit  of  one  of  his  first  chimeras,  the  northwest  passage. 
"We  have  examined  his  M6moires  d'Outre  Tombe,  to  see  what  he 
might  have  said  of  this  voyage  undertaken  in  such  holy  com- 
pany, and  the  reflections  which  it  inspired  seem  to  us  not  out  of 
place : 

"  I  chose  St.  Malo  to  embark,  and  struck  a  bargain  with  a  cap- 


»  Brent's  Sketch  of  Bishop  Cnrr^ll,  125. 

+  According  to  a  manuscript  of  the  Abbe  Delist,  preserved  at  the  seminary 
in  Baltimore,  the  idea  of  cransferrinp  the  Society  of  St.  Siilpice  out  of  France 
was  suggested  to  Mr.  Emery  by  Mr.  de  St.  Felix,  Superior  of  the  Seminary 
of  Tours.  On  the  closing  of  the  Seminary  of  Orleans,  Mr.  Chicoisneau,  the 
Superior,  wished  to  emigrate  to  America  with  several  other  Sulnitian  pro- 
fessorfi,  but  they  were  unable  to  do  pr ,  though  Mr.  Chicoisneau  subsequently 
oame  to  the  United  States,  and  resided  for  a  time  at  Baltimore. 


tain  n; 

Nagot, 

guidan 

suited  1 

tian,  bi 

This  cl 

reading 

a  religi 

truths  M 

be.     Is 

found  es 

he  sees  a 

tent  to  cJ 

"Amo 

Tallok  hi 

tician,  he 

met  the  I 

his  conve 

After  a 

St.  Pierre 

timore. 

Bishop 

Mr.  Nago 

gave  them 

ing  letter  < 

"When 

of  finding 

himself  an< 

*  Mdmoire 
born  at  Tou 
Snlpiee,  and 
vices  to  the  . 
connection  w 
be  considerec 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


67 


tain  named  Desjardins.  He  was  to  carry  to  Baltimore  the  Abb6 
Nagot,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  several  seminarians  under  the 
guidance  of  their  chief.  These  travelling  companions  would  have 
suited  me  better  four  years  before.  I  had  been  a  zealous  Chris- 
tian, but  had  become  a  '  strong  mind' — that  is,  a  '  weak  mind.' 
This  change  in  my  religious  opinions  had  been  effected  by  the 
reading  of  the  philosophers  of  the  day.  I  sincerely  believed  that 
a  religious  mind  was  paralyzed  on  one  side;  that  there  were 
truths  which  could  not  reach  it,  superior  as  it  might  otherwise 
be.  I  supposed  in  the  religious  mind  the  absence  of  a  faculty 
found  especially  in  the  philosophic  mind.  A  purblind  man  thinks 
he  sees  all  because  he  has  his  eyes  open ;  a  superior  mind  is  con- 
tent to  close  its  eyes  because  it  perceives  all  witMn. 

"Among  my  fellow-voyagers  was  an  Englishman.  Francis 
Tallok  had  served  in  the  artillery.  Painter,  musician,  mathema- 
tician, he  spoke  several  languages.  The  Abbe  Nagot,  having 
met  the  English  officer,  made  a  Catholic  of  him,  and  was  taking 
his  convert  to  Baltimore."* 

After  a  painful  voyage  of  three  months,  stopping  at  the  Azores, 
St.  Pierre  and  Miquelon,  Nagot  and  his  companions  reached  Bal- 
timore. 

Bishop  Carroll  was  then  on  a  pastoral  visit  at  Boston,  when 
Mr.  Nagot  and  his  companions  arrived,  but  on  his  return  he 
gave  them  a  most  cordial  welcome,  as  we  may  see  by  the  follow- 
ing letter  of  the  prelate,  written  in  September  following : 

"  When  I  returned  from  Boston,  in  July,  I  had  the  happiness 
of  finding  here  M.  Nagot  with  his  company  from  St.  Sulpice ; 
himself  and  three  other  priests  belonging  to  the  establishment, 


y 


*  M^moires  d'Outre  Tombe,  par  Chateaubriand.  Francis  Charles  Nagot, 
born  at  Tours  in  1784,  waa  long  Director  of  the  Petit  Semiuaire  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  also  Director  of  the  Grand  Serainaire.  Of  his  important  ser- 
vices to  the  American  Church  we  shall  speak  more  at  length  hereafter,  ia 
connection  with  St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary,  of  both  of  which  he  may 
be  considered  the  founder. 


68 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


viz.,  a  procurator  and  two  professore,  and  five  seminarians.* 
They  will  be  joined  soon  by  one  or  two  Datives  of  this  country. 
These  now,  with  Mr.  Delavan,  a  worthy  French  priest,  form  the 
clergy  of  my  cathedral  (a  paltry  cathedral)  and  attract  a  great 
concourse  of  all  denominations,  by  the  decency  and  exactness 
with  which  they  perform  all  parts  of  divine  service. 

"  If  in  many  instances  the  French  Revolution  has  been  fatal  to 
religion,  this  country  promises  to  derive  advantage  from  it."f 

Mr.  Nagot  immediately  bought  an  inn,  with  four  acres  of 
ground,  for  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  Maryland 
currency,  and  at  once  opened  his  seminary  there ;  at  the  same 
time  sending  one  of  his  companions,  Mr.  De  Mondesir,  to  teach 
at  Georgetown.  The  two  establishments  thus  aided  each  other, 
Jesuit  and  Sulpitian,  vying  in  zeal  for  the  good  of  religion.  The 
college  was  to  be  the  hive  of  the  seminary,  as  that  was  to  be  of 
the  American  clergy.  But  before  the  seminary  had  time  to  form 
young  subjects  for  the  priesthood,  the  persecutions  of  the  Reign 
of  Terror  drove  to  the  United  States  learned  and  experienced 
priests,  who  enabled  Bishop  Carroll  to  multiply  the  missions  and 
extend  the  circle  far  beyond  the  limits  of  Maryland,  in  New  Eng- 
land, Kentucky,  and  the  most  remote  territory  of  the  West  The 
essential  service  of  these  priests  will  appear  in  all  its  light  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  the  other  dioceses  of  the  United  States,  and 
a  bishop,  himself  a  native  of  the  country,  has  justly  said : 

"  The  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  is  deeply  indebted 
to  the  zeal  of  the  exiled  French  clergy.     No  portior*  of  the 


*  Of  the  companions  of  Nagot  we  may  mention  John  Floyd,  an  English- 
man, ordained  by  Bishop  Carroll  in  1795,  and  who  built  a  church  at  the 
Point  in  Baltimore,  and  died  thero  of  a  contagious  disease  la  1797 ;  and  John 
Tliomas  Michael  Edward  Pierron  De  Mondesir,  born  in  March,  1770,  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Hilaire  de  Nogent  le  Rotrou.  He  was  ordained  on  the  30th  of 
September,  1798,  but  returned  to  France  in  1801.  They  were  the  third  and 
fourth  priests  ordained  in  tlie  United  States. 

t  Krent's  Biographical  Sketch,  126. 


Amei 
They 
most 
bisho] 
chara( 
to  fon 
ries  a] 
charac 
be  at 
landed 
amid  i 
withou 
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John  D 
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JohnB 
same  v( 
Matignc 
quard  fc 
Bishop 
creased 
Louis  r 
Abbes 
came  th 
Abbe  Jo 
1798  th( 
others  st 


*  SketclJ 
D.  D.,  Loi 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


69 


lisli- 
,t  the 
John 
n  the 
)th  of 
d  and 


American  Church  owes  more  to  them  than  that  of  Kentucky. 
They  supplied  our  infant  missions  with  most  of  their  earliest  and 
most  zealous  laborers,  and  they  likewise  gave  to  us  our  first 
bishops.  There  is  something  in  the  elasticity  and  buoyancy  of 
character  of  the  French  which  adapts  them  in  a  peculiar  manner 
to  foreign  missions.  They  have  always  been  the  best  missiona- 
ries among  the  North  American  Indians ;  they  can  mould  their 
character  to  suit  every  circumstance  and  emergency ;  they  can 
be  at  home  and  cheerful  everywhere.  The  French  clergy  who 
landed  on  our  shores,  though  many  of  them  had  been  trained  up 
amid  all  the  refinements  of  polished  France,  could  yet  submit 
without  a  murmur  to  all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  a  mis- 
sion on  the  frontiers  of  civilization,  or  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
wilderness.  They  could  adapt  themselves  to  the  climate,  mould 
themselves  to  the  feelings  and  habits  of  a  people  opposite  to  them 
in  temperament  and  character."* 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  venerable  exiles  were  the  Abb6 
John  Dubois,  who  landed  at  Norfolk  in  July,  1791,  and  who  be- 
came in  1826  Bishop  of  New  York;  the  Abbes  Benedict  Flaget, 
John  B.  David,  and  Stephen  Badin,  who  reached  Baltimore  in  the 
same  vessel,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1792 ;  the  Abbes  Francis 
Matignon,  Ambrose  Marechal,  Gabriel  Richard,  and  Francis  Ci- 
quard  followed  close  on  these  last,  and  prerented  themselves  to 
Bishop  Carroll  on  the  24th  of  June,  1792.  The  year  1794  in- 
creased the  clergy  of  the  United  States  by  the  arrival  of  the  Abbe 
Louis  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  of  the 
Abbes  John  Aloranville,  Donatian  Olivier,  and  Rivet.  In  1796 
came  the  j.i.ohe  Fournier,  a  missionary  in  Kentucky,  and  the 
Abbe  John  Lefevre  Cheverus,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Boston ;  in 
1798  the  Abbe  Anthony  Salmon  joined  his  friend  Fournier,  and 
others  still,  weaiy  of  leading  a  useless  life  in  England  or  Spain, 

*  Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholio  Missions  of  Kentucky,  by  M.  J.  Spalding, 
D.  D.,  Louisville,  1845,  page  56. 


I 


^l"f;:-it'' 


70 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


left  those  countries  where  they  received  a  generous  hospitality  to 
come  and  exercise  a  painful  ministry  iu  America,  and  condemn 
themselves  to  a  life  of  privation.* 

The  Abb6  Marechal  was  ordained  at  Bordeaux  the  very  day  he 
sailed,  and  said  his  first  Mass  at  Baltimore.  The  Abb6  Stephen 
Badin  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  in  Baltimore  on  the  25th  of 
May,  1793,  and  was  the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States. 

The  foundation  of  Georgetown  College  and  the  Sulpitian  Bern- 
inary  gave  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  some  stability,  and  Bishop 
Carroll  was  enabled  to  assemble  his  clergy  in  a  Synod  in  Novem- 
ber, 1*791 ;  twenty  ecclesiastics  were  present;  it  waa  determined 


^*  John  Dubois,  born  in  Paris  in  1764,  ordained  in  1787,  came  to  America 
in  1791,  founded  St.  Mary's  in  1807,  Bishop  of  New  York  in  1826,  died 
in  1842. 

Benedict  Flaget,  born  at  Bellom  in  1764,  Sulpitian  in  1783,  priest  in  1788, 
missionary  at  Vincennes,  ind.,  in  1792,  Bishop  of  Bardstown  in  1810,  trans- 
ferred to  Louisville  in  1841,  died  in  1850. 

John  B.  David,  born  near  Nantes  in  1760,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  in  1784, 
missionary  in  Maryland  in  1792,  in  Kentucky  in  1811,  coadjutor  of  Bards- 
town, aJid  Bishop  of  Mauricastro  in  partibus  in  1819,  died  in  1841. 

Stephen  Badin,  born  at  Orleans  in  1768,  ordained  priest  at  Baltimore  in 
1798,  iiiissionary  in  Kentucky  in  1793,  died  at  Cincinnati  in  1853. 

Francis  Matigiion,  born  at  Paris  in  1753,  priest  in  1773,  missionary  at  Bos- 
ton in  1792s  died  at  Boston  in  1818. 

Ambrose  Marechal,  born  at  Orleans  in  1768,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  1792, 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore  in  1817,  died  in  1828. 

Gabriel  Richard,  born  at  Saintes  in  1764,  Sulpitian,  ordained  in  1792,  mis- 
sionary in  1796,  at  Detroit  from  1798,  deputy  to  Congress  iVom  Michigan  in 
182S,  nominated  Bishop  of  Detroit,  died  of  cholera  at  Detroit  in  1832. 

Francis  Ciquard,  born  at  Clermont,  ordained  in  1779,  a  Sulpitian,  mission- 
ary among  the  Indians  of  Maine  in  1792,  died  at  Montreal. 

Louis  Dulourg,  born  at  St.  Domingo  in  1766,  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  in  1795, 
Bl^^-op  of  New  Orleans  in  1815,  of  Montauban  in  1826,  Archbishop  of  Be- 
i»ai  '.'ii  in  1833,  died  in  1833. 

John  Moranvillc,  born  near  Amiens  in  1760,  missionary  at  Cayenne  in 
1784,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1794,  stationed  at  Baltimore  in  1804,  died 
at  Amiens  in  1824. 

The  Abb^  Fournier,  bom  in  the  diocese  of  Blois,  missionary  iu  Kentucky 
in  1791,  died  in  1808. 

John  Lefevre  Cheverus,  born  af  Mayenne  in  176S,  priest  in  1790,  Bishop 


of  Boston 
Cardinal  ir 
The  ±h 
in  1808. 

Anthony 
1798,  died 
The  Abb 
more  in  17 
1814. 

Anthony 

Patrick's,  B 

of  St.  Sulpi 

John  Teas 

got's  resigni 

Peter  Babi 

1846. 

Donatian 
died  in  1841, 
*  See  Dav; 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


71 


in 
n- 


lop 


to  solicit  of  the  Holy  See  the  division  of  the  United  States  into 
several  dioceses,  or  at  least  the  appointment  of  a  coadjutor  to 
share  the  burden  of  the  Episcopate.  With  .ill  his  zeal,  Bishop 
Carroll  could  not  extend  his  pastoral  visits  over  his  immense  dio- 
cese, and  Pius  VI.,  alive  to  the  religious  wants  of  America,  ap- 
pointed as  coadjutor  Father  Leonard  Neale,  who  was  consecrated 
at  Baltimore,  Bishop  of  Gortyna  in  partibus,  in  the  course  of  the 
year  1800. 

Leonard  J^eale  was  bom  in  Maryland  on  the  16th  of  October, 
1*746,  and  belonged  to  a  distinguished  family,  whose  ancestors 
figure  among  the  first  colonists  of  Lord  Baltimore.*  His  mother, 
a  pious  and  courageous  widow,  who  had  already  parted  with  four 
sons  to  send  them  to  the  Jesuit  college  of  St.  Omers,  to  be  edu- 
cated, resolved  to  give  little  Leonard  the  same  advantages,  and  at 
the  age  of  twelve  he  too  embarked  for  France.  There  he  followed 
the  example  of  his  brothers,  who  had  all  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  while  their  sister  Anne  became  a  Poor  Clare,  at  Aire  in 
Artois.  But  Father  Leonard  had  scarcely  pronounced  his  vows 
when  the  dispersion  of  the  Society  compelled  him  to  retire  to 

of  Boston  in  1810,  of  Montauban  in  1818,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux  in  1826, 
Cardinal  in  1836,  died  in  1836. 

The  Abb6  Eivet,  born  at  Limoges,  missionary  at  Vincennes  in  1795,  died 
in  1803. 

Anthony  Salmon,  born  in  the  diocese  of  Blois,  missionary  in  Kentucky  in 
1798,  died  of  cold,  in  the  snow,  near  Bardstown  in  1799. 

The  Abb6  Barriere  escaped  from  prison  at  Bordeaux,  and  reached  Baiii- 
more  in  1798,  missionary  in  Kentucky  and  Louisiana,  died  at  Bordeaux  iu 
1814. 

Anthony  Gamier,  born  in  the  diocese  of  La  Eochejle  in  1762,  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Baltimore,  in  1792,  returned  to  Franco  in  1803,  Superior-general 
of  St.  Sulpicc  in  1827»  died  in  1845,  at  the  age  of  eic^ty-three. 

John  Teasier  became  President  of  the  Seminary  of  Baltimore  on  Mr.  Na- 
got's  resignation  in  1810. 

Peter  Babade,  born  at  Lyons,  came  to  America  in  1796,  died  at  Lyons  in 
1846. 

Donatian  Olivier,  born  at  Nantes  in  1746,  missionary  in  Illinois  in  1795, 
died  in  1841,  at  the  age  of  ninety-five. 

*  See  Davis's  Day-star,  pp.  248,  244. 


3' 

I 


72 


THE  CATHOLIC  Cli  JRCH 


England.  In  1119  he  resolved  to  go  and  evangelize  Demerara, 
in  English  Guiana,  and  there  he  preached  the  faith  successfully 
to  the  natives ;  but  the  pers.  cutions  of  the  colonists  prevented  his 
continuing  his  ministry  even  in  that  deadly  climate,  and  in  1783 
Father  Neale  set  out  for  Maiylar  J.  After  Laving  been  attached 
to  several  churches  in  that  State,  he  was  sent  in  1193  tc  Phila- 
delphia, where  the  yellow  fever  had  carried  off  tlio  two  Jpsuits 
who  directed  that  mission.  Father  Neale  wis  unwca-  '-od  in  braz- 
ing the  peif5tikr.ce  and  rescuing  its  victinis  by  his  chantable  care. 
In  1797  aiit;  1 798  the  same  epidemic  rfiiewed  i'.:;^  tiightfui 
ravages  iu  Fliila'lelphi .,  imd  found  the  missionary  in  the  brefiC-h, 
ever  ready  to  bear  the  «.  i;v^x>Uuion3  of  his  ministry  to  the  8i(;kand 
dying.  In  1799  Bishop  C/aroll  called  him  to  preside  over 
Georgetown  CoDee'e,  whort  ^v  succeeded  Mr.  Dubourg,  and  he 
was  still  in  that  pest  when  the  Spiscopal  dignity  surprised 
him.* 

The  two  ex-Jcsuits,  become  bishops,  w(tuld,  it  may  be  imagiued, 
care  little  about  ti?e  fate  of  their  Society,  extinguished  thiry 
yeais  \.eix)re.  But  th:;  sons  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  never  forget 
their  irn.  ther,  and  as  soon  aa  Bishop  Carroll  learned  that  the  So- 
ciety still,  ii'  a  manner,  survived  in  the  Russian  empire,  he  begged 
Father  G rubor  to  readmit  the  Fatheri"  livicc'  in  the  United  States. 
He  added  that  the  property  of  the  Society  was  preserved  almost 


*  Notice  on  the  Most  Eev.  Leonard  Neale,  second  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more, by  M.  C.  Jenkins.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  505.  Oliver's  precious 
Collection  enables  us  to  give  the  names  of  the  five  brothers: 

William  Ntsale,  born  August  14, 1743,  died  in  1799  at  Manchester  Hospital, 
insane 

Benec^:  t  Neale,  born  August  14,  1748,  apparently  a  twin  brother  of  the 
former,  o.ied  m  Maryland  in  1787. 

Charles  Neale,  who  died  at  Georgetown,  April  28,  1828. 

Leonard  Neale,  born  15th  October  1746  (Oliver  says  1747),  died  in     ^^ 

Francis  Neale,  born  in  1755,  die''  in  Maryland  in  1837. 

There  seems  to  be  some  cont       n,  however,  as  Leonard  '    e*^.       the 


rapidlj 
tain  in 
prived  I 

*Lai| 

t  Heni 

toirc  de  \ 


IN   HIE    UNITED   STATES. 


73 


Lpital, 


intact,  and  that  it  would  support  thirty  religious.  The  letter  of 
the  bishop  and  of  his  coadjutor  is  dated  May  25,  1803,  and  con- 
tains this  remarkable  passage  of  modesty  and  self  denial : 

"  We  have  been  so  much  employed  in  ministries  foreign  to  our 
institute ;  we  are  so  inexperienced  in  government ;  the  want  of 
1>  >'  ks,  even  of  the  constitutions  and  decrees  of  the  congregations, 
vi  90  flagrant,  that  you  cannot  find  one  Jesuit  among  us  suflSciently 
qualified  by  health  and  strength,  as  well  as  other  requisites,  to 
fulfil  the  duties  of  Superior.  It  would  seem  then  most  expedient 
to  send  here  some  Father  from  those  around  you.  He  must 
know  your  intentions  thoroughly,  and  be  prudent  enough  to  un- 
i.l«3rtake  nothing  precipitately  before  he  has  studied  the  govern- 
ment, laws,  and  spirit  of  this  republic,  and  the  manners  of  the 
people." 

There  were  then  in  Maryland  only  thirteen  Jesuits,  nearly  ail 
broken  with  age  and  missionary  toils.  Father  Gruber  at  once 
authorized  a  renewal  of  their  vows,  and  Fathers  Robert  Molyneux, 
Charles  Neale,  Charles  Sewall,  and  Sylvester  Boarman  availed 
themselves  of  the  permission  ;*  but  he  did  not  send  a  visitor  from 
Europe,  as  Father  Carroll  asked,  and  he  had  confidence  enough 
in  the  American  Jesuits  to  name  one  of  them  Superior  of  the 
whole  mission.  The  choice  of  Father  Gruber  fell  on  Father  Mo- 
lyneux, and  there  soon  arrived  in  the  United  States  Fathers  Adam 
Britt,  John  Henry,  F.  Mai  eve,  Anthony  Kohlmann,  P.  Epinette, 
Maximilian  du  iiantzeau,  Peter  Malou,  John  Grassi,  and  F.  Vau- 
quickenborne.  These  new  auxiliaries,  with  the  Sulpitians  and 
ocher  French  priests,  contributed  not  only  to  propagate  the  faith 
rapidly  in  the  United  States,  but  especiaMy  to  bring  back  or  re- 
tain in  the  practice  of  reli^oiu  t:'e  Catholic  settlers  till  then  de- 
prived of  pastors.t 


the 


*  Laity's  Dirsiiory  for  1822,  p  123. 

+  Heiirion,  Histoire  dea  Missions  Catholiques,  ii.  662;  Cretineau  Joly,  His- 
toire  de  la  Compagne  do  .T^srs,  vi.  859  ;  Laity's  Directory,  124. 


u 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Among  the  instruments  of  the  regener>i;ion  of  the  Church  in 
the  United  States,  we  must  not  forget  the  many  French  families 
who  emigrated  from  St.  Domingo  at  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
and  settled  at  Baltimore  or  New  Yoik.     In  his  history  of  the 
Huguenot  refugees,  Weiss  enters  into  long  details  on  those  who 
settled  in  America  on  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes.     The 
author,  following  his  system,  exaggerates  beyond  all  limit  the  im- 
portance of  that  immigration,  and  draws  an  imaginary  sketch  of 
the  influence  exercised  on  America,  by  the  French  Huguenots,  in 
agriculture,  literature,  politics,  arts,  sciences,  civilization,  and  so 
forth.     We  shall  be  much  more  in  truth's  domain  when  we  affirm 
that  the  French  Catholic  families,  driven  from  the  W^est  Indies 
by  the  frightful  consequences  of  the  revolution,  and  who  came  to 
seek  peace  and  liberty  in  the  United  States,  far  exceeded  in  num- 
ber the  Protestant  immigration  of  the  previous  i^entury.     Nay, 
more  :  misfortune  having  purified  their  faith,  these  Creoles  were 
distinguished  for  their  attachment  to  religion,  and  often  became 
the  li'.'ing  models  of  American  congregations.     Without  counting 
Martinique  and  Guadaloupe,  the  French   part  of  St.  Domingo 
contained  in    1793   forty  thousand  whites.     All  emigrated  to 
escape  being  massacred  by  the  blacks;  many  miilattoes  followed 
them,  and  of  this  mass  of  emigrants  a  great  part  settled  in  the 
United  States. 

The  annals  of  Baltimore  aoy  that  on  the  9th  of  July,  1793, 
fifty-three  vessels  arrived  at  that  port,  bearing  about  one  thousand 
whites  and  five  hundred  colored  people,  flving  from  the  disasters 
of  St.  Domingo.  These  arrivals  were  followed  by  many  others, 
either  at  Baltimore  or  at  other  ports  of  the  United  States.  In 
1807  the  Catholics  in  New  York  were  estimated  at  fourteen 
thousand,  "  a  large  part  of  whom  are  refugees  from  St.  Domingo 
and   other  islands."*      Before  joining  the   negro  insurrection. 


*  Griffith's  Anna!    of  Baltimore,  140. 


Toussa 
coachn] 
reach  £ 
the  disa 
siderabi< 
them  fu] 
the  Life 
emigratic 
able  inhi 
1793,  fou 
endowed 
Baltimore 
creased  th 
'^♦^e  ma 
Michigan, 
who  were,  i 
and  to  the  I 
which  scatt 
leaving  the 
thrown, 
birth  (they 
in  perfidy- 
Jesuits. 

Thus,  EuL 
peopled  the 
Catholics  thj 
Huguenots ; 

*  M^moire  f 
^aris,  1815,  iij. 

t  Catholic  A 
country  we  nee 

of  Jesus,  who  ] 
parts  of  the  co 

ways  of  perfect! 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


75 


Toussaint  L'Ouverture  protected  the  flight  of  the  family  whose 
coachman  he  was,  and  enabled  them  and  many  other  Creoles  to 
reach  Baltimore.  In  a  notice  on  Bishop  Dubourg  we  read  that 
the  disasters  of  St.  Domingo  cast  on  our  hospitable  shores  a  con- 
siderable number  of  Catholic  families  and  colored  people,  most  of 
them  full  of  piety,  and  others  disposed  to  it  by  misfortune.*  In 
the  Life  of  the  Abb6  Moranvill6  we  also  find  that,  "  besides  the 
emigration  from  France,  a  very  large  number  of  the  niost  respect- 
able inhabitants  of  St.  Domingo,  flying  from  the  massacre  of 
1793,  found  refuge  at  Baltimore.  Many  of  these  refugees  were 
endowed  with  eminent  piety  ;"f  and  the  author  of  the  Annals  of 
Baltimore  says  that  these  immigrations  of  French  colonist"  in- 
creased the  wealth  and  population  of  the  city. 

We  may  also  claim  as  French  not  only  the  inhabitants  of 
Michigan,  Illinois,  and  Louisiana,  but  also  the  good  Acadians 
who  were,  in  1*756,  forcibly  torn  from  their  homes  by  the  English, 
and  to  the  number  of  seven  thousand,  forced  on  board  ^f  vessels, 
which  scattered  them  along  the  coast  from  Bo'^.uu  to  Carolina, 
leaving  them  to  the  charity  of  those  among  whom  they  ^y€l'(i 
thrown.  The  only  crime  of  the  Acadians  was  their  religion  and 
birth  (they  were  French  Catholics),  and  their  treatment  is  equalled 
in  perfidy  only  by  the  conduct  of  Charles  ITT.  of  Spain  to  the 
Jesuits. 

Thus,  English  fanaticism  and  the  disasters  of  the  revolution 
peopled  the  territory  of  the  United  St  tes  with  more  French 
Catholics  than  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  ever  sent 
Huguenots ;  and  we  ourselves  have  been  able  to  see  with  our  own 

*  M6moire  pour  server  4  I'histoire  ecclesiaatique  pendant  le  xviii  siecle. 
Paris,  1815,  iii.  19-!. 

t  Catholic  Almanac,  1889.  Among  those  who  thus  emigrated  to  this 
country  we  need  only  mer^-on  the  late  Father  ...cholas  Petit,  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  who  recently  v'  j<\  t  Troy,  and  who8(>  apostolical  labors  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  wiii  {v-Ai*  be  reraemberect  by  those  he  guided  in  the 
ways  of  perfection. 


a 


u)*3t 


ii 


76 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUKCH 


eyes  how  many  descendants  of  the  planters  of  St.  Domingo  and 
exiles  of  Acadie  have  faithfully  preserved  at  New  York,  Baltimore, 
Charleston,  and  New  Orleans  the  L^li   <  f  tlinr  fathers. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


'iliS    CHURCH    IN    MARYLAND. 

Tho  G^rtniilltes — Poo.  Clares— Visitation  nuns — Sisters  of  Ciiarlty— Baltimore  an  ec- 
clesiastical province  with  four  sufRragans — Death  of  Archbishop  Carroll.* 

After  having  provided,  by  tho  foundation  of  a  college  and 
.seminary,  for  the  education  of  youth  and  the  recruiting  of  the 
priesthood,  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore's  next  care  was  to  introdi'iCe 
into  Maryland  religious  communities  of  women,  to  instruct  the 
young  of  their  own  sex,  nurse  the  sick,  and  adopt  the  orphan. 
These  good  works  have  ever  been  the  heritage  of  the  Church, 
and  ephemeral  indeed  must  be  the  branch  which  has  not  yet 
laid  the  foundation  of  convents  for  prayer  or  charity.  Till  1790 
the  United  States  did  not  know  what  a  female  religious  was.f 
It  was  only  then  that  Father  CI.  arles  Neale,  brt  iher  of  the  futurt- 
coadjutor  of  Baltimore,  brought  with   him   from   Belgium   to 

*  The  year  1790  is  a  memorable  era  in  Catholic  publication  in  tho  UniteJ 
States.  The  zealous  Jesuits  had,  even  prior  to  tho  Kevolutioii,  issued  a  few 
prayer-books  and  the  Following  of  Clirist,  all  privately  'irinted.  The  faith- 
ful now  needed  an  edition  of  the  Bible,  and  a  qiir  to  was  printed  b^  Carey, 
Stewart  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  in  1790.  But  o  m  litior  of  the  Protestant 
version  had  then  appeared  in  America,  so  that  Caluolics.  so  often  traduced 
as  enemies  of  the  Bible,  were  among  the  first  to  print  it  iu  this  country,  and 
to  this  day  n  boast  of  the  finest  e<lition,  the  unsurpassed  Haydock  from 
Dunigan's  press. 

t  The  Ursuline  Convent  at  New  Orleans  was  founded  in  1727,  but  Louisi- 
ana at  that  time  belonged  to  France.    Before  tlie  dose  of  the  seventeenth 


century,  Cj 
the  dates  o 
1639-Ho 
1642-Ho 
ltJ58— Sis 
1698— Sis 
I697-Th( 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


77 


America  four  Carmelites  of  St.  Theresa's  reform,  three  of  whom 
were  Americans,  the  fourth  an  English  lady ;  and  thus  one  of  the 
most  austere  orders  in  the  Church  was  the  first  to  naturalize  itself 
in  the  United  States.  Father  Charles  Neale  had  a  cousin, 
Mother  Mary  Margaret  Brent,  Superior  of  the  Carmelite  convent 
at  Antwerp^  a  house  founded  only  thirty-seven  years  after  St. 
Theresa's  death.  At  the  request  of  this  lady,  Father  Charles 
Neale  in  1780  assumed  the  spiritual  direction  of  the  convent,  and 
he,  by  his  correspondence  with  his  friends  in  America,  exciteil  a 
defaire  to  have  a  branch  of  the  Carmelites  at  Port  Tobacco,  where 
the  Neale  family  resided.  Father  Carroll  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of 
Antwerp,  and  on  the  19th  of  April,  1790,  four  Carmelites  em- 
barked at  Antwerp  with  Father  Neale  for  Maryland.  They  were 
Mother  Bernardino  Mathews,  Superior,  her  two  sisters,  Mothers 
Aloysius  and  Eleanora  Mathews,  from  the  convent  of  Hogstraet, 
and  Sister  Mary  Dickinson,  of  the  convent  of  Antwerp.  On  the 
15th  of  October  the  ''armelites  took  possession  of  their  house, 
which  'ather  Neale  had  built  at  his  own  expense ;  and  there 
they  practised  their  rule  in  all  its  severity,  fasting  eight  months 
in  the  year,  ^"earing  woollen,  sleeping  on  straw,  and  offering  their 
prayers  and  mortif' rations  for  the  salvatioa  of  souls.  In  1800 
they  lost  their  Superior,  who  was  succeeded  by  Mother  Dickinson. 
In  1823  Father  Charles  Neale,  their  venerable  founder,  died,  after 
having  directed  them  by  his  counsels  for  thirty-three  years.  In 
1840  Mother  Dickinson  followed  him  to  the  grave.  Born  in 
London  and  educated  in  France,  she  had  been  a  religious  {or 
fifty-eight  years,  and  was  revered  as  a  saint  by  her  spiritual 


r » 

ia 

in 

pi- 
th 


century,  Canada  had  six  female  religious  communities, 
the  dates  of  their  foundation : 

1639— Hospital  Nuns,  und  Ursulines  of  Quebec. 

1642 — Hospital  Nuns  of  Montreal. 

1658 — Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Our  Lady. 

1698 — Sisters  of  the  General  Hospital,  Quebec. 

1697— The  Ursulines  of  Three  Rivers. 


The  following  are 


78 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


daughtem.  At  this  epoch  the  Curnielites  suffered  the  greatest 
financial  embarrassments,  so  as  actually  to  experience  all  the  pri- 
vations of  want,  in  consequence  of  the  mismanagement  of  the 
farm  from  which  they  deri .  ed  their  support.  Archbishop  Whit- 
field, touched  by  their  painful  position,  advised  them  to  leave  Port 
Tobacco  and  remove  to  Baltimore,  where  thoy  might  create  re- 
sources by  opening  a  boarding-school.  The  Holy  See  permitted 
this  modification  of  their  rule,  and  on  the  13th  of  September, 
1831,  the  Carmelites,  to  the  number  of  twenty-four,  bade  a 
last  farewell  to  the  convent  where  most  of  them  had  devoted 
themselves  to  the  austerities  of  a  religious  life.  On  the  next 
day  they  reached  Baltimore,  and  after  offering  a  short  prayer 
at  the  cathedral,  hastened  to  inclose  themselves  in  their  n6w 
cloister. 

The  Carmelites  had  for  several  years,  as  one  of  their  chaplains, 
the  Abb6  H6rard,  a  French  priest  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  had 
left  France  for  Guiana  in  1784,  and  withdrew  to  the  United 
States  during  the  revolution.  He  was  long  their  most  active 
benefactor,  gave  them  a  considerable  sum  towards  building  their 
chapel,  and  left  them  a  legacy,  the  income  of  which  still  sup- 
ports their  chaplain.  The  Carmelites  at  Baltimore  now  number 
twenty  sisters,  and  their  contemplative  life  doubtless  averts  the 
sco'irges  of  God  from  the  land  where  his  name  is  so  dishonored.* 

About  1792  some  Poor  Clares,  driven  from  France  by  the 
horrors  of  the  revolution,  sought  a  refuge  in  Maryland.  Their 
names  were  Marie  de  la  Marche,  Abbess  of  the  Order  of  St.  Clare, 

Celeste  la  Blonde  de  la  Rochefoucault,  and de  St.  Luc,  and 

they  wert  assisted  by  a  lay  brother  named  Alexis.    They  took 


up  the! 
had  A 
veneral 
la  Roci 
Georgef 
Abbess 
in  Franc 
In  18 
town,  of 
August, 
college,  1 
support  1 
had  cons 
Abbess  i 
her,  sold 
and  retur 
l«i8t  chapt 
Jesus,  ha( 
seem  nati 
she  and  i 
there  is  n( 
doubtless 
of  St.  Cla 
its  benedi( 
Miss  Al 
in  Americi 
pious  and 
whither  he 


*  Catholic  Magazine,  viii.  24,  88.  The  Carmelite  Nuns  were  founded  by 
the  Blessed  John  Soreth,  a  Norman,  the  twenty-sixth  General  and  first  re- 
former of  the  Carmelites.  They  were  instituted  by  a  Bull  of  Pope  Nicholas 
V.  in  1542.  The  Carmelite  Nuns  were  reformed  by  St.  Theresa  in  1562,  and 
the  Spanish  reform  introduced  into  France  by  Madame  Aoarie  in  1608. 


*  The  Poc 
Italy  in  1212 
rule  in  1224. 
austere;  thej 
on  Christmns 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


79 


up  their  ^abode  at  Georgetown,  although  it  is  certain  that  they 
had  h  house  als*^  at  Frederick,  as  we  learn  from  the  will  of  the 
venerable  Abbess,  dated  in  1801,  and  made  in  favor  of  Sister  de 
la  Rochefoucaul*  It  is  preserved  at  thd  Visitation  Convent, 
Georgetown,  and  begins  in  these  words :  "  I,  Mary  de  la  Marche, 
Abbess  of  the  Order  of  St.  Clare,  formerly  of  the  village  of  Sours 
in  France,  and  now  of  Frederick  in  Maryland." 

In  1801  they  purchased  a  lot  on  Lafayette-street,  in  George- 
town, of  John  Threlkeld,  the  deed  being  dated  on  the  first  of 
August.  The  good  sisters  had  the  consolation  to  be  near  the 
college,  which  secured  them  religious  aid.  They  endeavored  to 
support  themselves  at  Georgetown  by  opening  a  school,  but  they 
had  constantly  to  struggle  with  poverty ;  and  on  the  death  of  the 
Abbess  in  1805,  Madame  de  la  Rochefoucault,  v/ho  succeeded 
her,  sold  the  convent  to  Bishop  Neale  by  deed  of  June  29th,  1 805, 
and  returned  to  Europe  with  her  companion.  As  we  saw  in  the 
last  chapter,  the  four  brothers  Neale,  who  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  had  a  sister,  a  Poor  Clare,  at  Aire  in  Artois ;  and  it  would 
seem  natural  that,  when  the  convents  in  France  were  suppressed, 
she  and  her  companions  should  take  refuge  in  Mai^'knd ;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  show  that  she  ever  reti'^*!::*!  to  America.  It 
doubtless  did  not  enter  the  designs  of  Providence  that  the  Order 
of  St.  Clare  should  take  root  in  the  United  States,  reserving  all 
its  benedictions  for  the  Order  of  the  Visitation.* 

Miss  Alice  Lalor,  who  was  the  foundress  of  the  Visitation  Nuns 
in  America,  was  born  about  1*766  in  Queen's  county,  Ireland,  of 
pious  and  worthy  parents.  She  was  brought  up  at  Kilkenny, 
whither  her  family  removed  when  young  Alice  was  still  a  child. 


*  The  Poor  Clares,  a  branch  of  the  Franciscan  Order,  were  founded  in 
Italy  in  1212  by  S  ■,.  Clare  Sciffa.  St.  Francis  of  A  sissium  pave  them  tlieir 
rule  in  1224.  Kef  ^rmed  by  St.  Colette  in  1435,  the  I'oor  Clares  are  extremely 
austere ;  they  fast  every  day,  never  taking  more  than  a  single  meal,  except 
on  Christmas-day. 


I.  r 


■  ^  *• 


80 


THK   CATHOLIC   CHTltCH 


u- 


I 


She  was  distinguished  from  her  brothei-s  and  sisters  by  her  extra- 
ordinary devotion,  and  made  rapid  progress  in  virtue  under  the 
direction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  the  parish  priest  of  the  place. 
Dr.  Lanigan,  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  having  visited  Kilkenny 
when  Ahce  Lalor  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  the  young  maiden 
consulted  that  prelate  on  her  desire  of  uniting  herself  to  God  by 
the  vow  of  chastity ;  and  after  having  her  sincerity  put  to  the 
test,  she  received  pemiission  to  follow  her  design,  but  without  yet 
leaving  her  family. 

Alice  thus  lived  some  years  in  the  world,  till  Bishop  Lanigan, 
wishing  to  form  a  religious  community  at  Kilkenny,  invited  her 
to  join  it.  She  accepted  with  joy,  but  was  opj)osed  in  her  voca- 
tion by  the  will  of  her  parents,  who  had  then  made  up  their 
minds  to  emigrate  to  America,  and  who  would  not  consent  to 
part  with  their  daughter.  She  accordingly  came  out  with  them 
in  1797,  after  having  promised  the  prelate  to  return  to  Ireland  in. 
two  years,  to  embrace  the  religious  state.  Such  was  not,  how- 
ever, the  design  of  the  Almighty  on  his  faithful  handmaid.  She 
settled  at  Philadelphia  with  her  family,  and  here  confided  her 
projects  to  Father  Leonard  Neale,  whom  fhe  took  as  her  director. 
He  had  long  wished  to  found  a  religious  community  at  Philadel- 
phia, although  he  was  yet  undecided  what  order  would  best  suit 
the  country.  He  showed  Miss  Lalor  that  America  needed  her  de- 
votedness  far  more  than  Ireland  did ;  and  being,  as  her  confessor, 
invested  with  the  necessary  powers,  he  released  her  from  her 
promise.  Obedient  to  his  counsels,  Alice  joined  two  other  young 
women  of  Philadelphia,  animated  by  a  similar  vocation  to  the 
religious  state.  She  left  her  family  to  begin  under  Father  Neale's 
d  '^ection  a  house  for  the  education  of  girls.  But  the  new  institu- 
te :yn  had  scarcely  begun  when  the  yellow  fever  opened  its  fearful 
ravages  in  Philadelphia.  Many  of  the  people  fled  from  the  scourge, 
and  among  them  the  parents  of  Miss  Lalor.  They  used  the  most 
touching  appeals  to  induce  her  to  accompany  them,  but  she  re- 


maine 
carrie( 
resolui 

In 
Georg( 
conver 
she  ha< 
both  r( 
teachei 
themse 
accessic 
tune, 
site  of 
Neale,  c 
where  1 
licitude. 
to  know 
He  had 
Francis 
Miss  La 
some  ol 
comp]et< 
althougl 
possessec 
deavors 
form  his 
Many  Ca 
comraun: 
of  the  P: 
compani( 
other  hai 
expense, 
favor  of 


IN   THE    UM'J\LD   STATES. 


81 


mained  unshaken  at  her  post,  and  beheld  her  two  companions 
carried  off  by  the  pestilence,  without  being  discouraged  in  her 
resolution  of  devoting  herself  to  God. 

In  1199  Father  Neale  Laving  been  appointed  President  of 
Georgetown  College,  persuaded  Miss  Lalor  to  retire  to  the  Clarist 
convent  in  that  city,  so  as  not  to  be  exposed  to  the  world  which 
she  had  renounced.  She  left  Philadelphia  with  a  pious  lady,  and 
both  rendered  all  the  service  thej'^  could  to  the  Poor  Clares  as 
teachers.  Their  director  soon  advised  them  to  open  a  school  by 
themselves,  which  they  did ;  and  their  rising  institute  received  an 
accession  in  another  Philadelphia  lady,  who  brought  a  small  for- 
tune. It  was  employed  partly  in  acquiring  a  wooden  house,  the 
site  of  which  is  stiU  embraced  in  the  convent  grounds.  Father 
Neale,  on  becoming  coadjutor,  continued  to  reside  at  Georgetown, 
where  he  bestowed  on  his  spiritual  daughters  the  most  active  so- 
licitude. The  holy  prelate  incessantly  offered  his  prayers  to  God 
to  know  to  what  rule  it  was  most  suitable  to  bind  the  new  society. 
He  had  a  great  predilection  for  the  Visitation,  founded  by  St. 
Francis  of  Sales,  and  a  circumstance  convinced  both  him  and 
Miss  Lalor  that  in  this  he  followed  the  designs  of  God.  Among 
some  old  books  belonging  to  the  Poor  Clares,  they  found  the 
complete  text  of  the  Rules  and  Constitution  of  the  Visitation, 
although  the  poor  sisters  were  wholly  unaware  that  they  had  ever 
possessed  the  volume.  Bishop  Neale  failed,  however,  in  his  en- 
deavors to  obtain  the  aid  of  some  nuns  from  Europe  in  order  to 
form  his  American  novices  to  the  rule  of  St.  Frances  de  Chautal. 
Many  Catholics  blamed  the  project  of  establishing  a  new  religious 
community  in  the  United  States,  fearing  to  excite  the  fanaticism 
of  the  Protestants.  Bishop  Carroll  advised  Miss  Lalor  and  her 
companions  to  join  the  Carmelites  of  Port  Tobacco.  On  the 
other  hand,  a  wealthy  lady  offered  to  go  to  Ireland  at  her  own 
expense,  and  bring  out  nuns,  if  Bishop  Neale  would  decide  in 
favor  of  the  Ursulines.    The  zealous  coadjutor,  however,  refused 

4» 


82 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


these  offers,  beiieving  that  the  institute  of  the  Visitation  was  best 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Catholics  in  the  United  States. 

We  have  stated  that  Bishop  Neale  had  bought  the  Clarist 
convent  on  their  departure  for  Europe  in  1805.  He  immediately 
installed  the  "  Pious  Ladies"  there  (for  by  that  name  the  future 
Visitation  Nuns  were  known  in  Georgetown),  and  by  deed  of 
June  9,  1808,  confirmed  June  9,  1812,  transferred  the  property 
to  Alice  Lalor,  Maria  McDermott,  and  Mary  Neale. 

In  1814  the  sisters  numbered  thirteen,  and  their  fervor  induced 
their  holy  director  to  permit  them  to  take  simple  vows  to  be  re- 
newed every  year. 

Up  to  this  time  Bishop  Neale  had  been  the  only  Superior  of 
the  community,  but  he  deemed  it  proper  to  invest  one  of  the 
sisters  with  authority  over  her  companions,  and  Miss  Lalor  was 
called  to  the  important  post. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Visitation  nuns  in  the  United 
States :  nor  is  it  without  striking  points  of  resemblance  to  its 
foundation  in  Europe.  The  energy  and  perseverance  of  Bishop 
Neale  recall  the  pious  efforts  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  for  the  same 
holy  enterprise.  In  both  cases  a  bishop  gave  the  first  impulse  ; 
in  both  hemispheres  an  isolated  lady  lays  the  first  foundation, 
undeterred  by  any  obstacle  ;  and  if  in  Europe  the  Visitation  soon 
opened  its  convents  in  twenty  different  spots  in  France,  so  in 
America  the  Mother  hou.a  at  Georgetown  has  now  branches  of 
the  order  at  Baltimore,  Mobile,  St.  Louis,  Washington,  Brooklyn, 
and  Wheeling ;  and,  in  these  various  convents,  now  numbers  over 
three  hundred  nuns.  But  if  was  not  without  new  and  severe  tri- 
als that  Alice  Lalor's  house  acquired  this  remarkable  development, 
as  we  shall  see  in  the  sequel. 

The  nine  convents  which  now  exist  in  the  United  States,  all, 
or  nearly  all,  filiations  of  the  Geo^'getown  convent,  have  boarding- 
schools  or  day  schools  for  girls  of  the  higher  as  well  as  of  the 
poorer  class.    The  education  received  in  their  schools  is  remark- 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


83 


ably  good,  and  the  work  of  Miss  Alice  Lalor  is  an  immense  ben- 
efit to  America.* 

The  same  is  true  of  that  to  which  Mrs.  Setou,  the  foundress  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the  United  States,  devoted  herself ;  and 
if  Miss  Lalor  reminds  us  of  a  St.  Frances  de  Chantal,  Mrs.  Seton 
will  frequently  recall  the  remembrance  of  Madame  Le  Gras,  the 
pious  instrument  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  Elizabeth  Bayley  was 
born  at  New  York,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1774,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty  married  a  respectable  merchant  named  William  Seton, 
of  a  Scotch  family,  whose  chief  is  now  Lord  WintcT>.  Like  her 
parents  and  husband,  she  belonged  to  the  Episcopal  Church  ;  but 
she  nurtured  much  piety  amid  her  Protestantism,  and  so  merited, 
that  God  gave  her  the  grace  of  embracing  the  truth.  A  voyage 
undertaken  under  sad  auspices,  led  to  her  conversion.  Mr.  Seton's 
health,  broken  by  cares  arising  out  of  the  mercantile  difficulties 
of  the  day,  induced  his  physicians  to  order  him  to  Italy ;  but  it 
was  too  late.  Soon  after  reaching  Pisa,  in  1803,  he  expired, 
leaving  his  widow  to  provide  for  five  young  children.  In  her 
misfortune  and  isolation,  in  a  foreign  land,  Mrs.  Seton  found  a 
Providence  in  the  family  of  the  brothers,  Phihp  and  Anthony 
Filicci,  two  Leghorn  merchants,  who  had  taken  a  deep  interest 
in  her.  Not  satisfied  with  welcoming  her  to  their  roof,  the 
Messrs.  Filicci  were  more  sensible  to  the  wants  of  her  soul  than 
to  the  grief  of  her  heart,  and  the  virtues  of  the  desolate  widow 
inspired  an  ardent  desire  to  behold  her  a  Catholic.  Mrs.  Seton 
"vas  not  disinclined,  and,  indeed,  whether  at  Pisa  or  Florence,  felt 


*  On  the  6th  June,  1610,  Madame  de  Chantal  and  her  companions,  under 
the  direction  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  founded  the  order  of  the  Visitation  of 
onr  Lady,  ut  Annecy,  in  Savoy.  Tiie  Constitutions  were  approved  by  Pope 
Urban  VI il.,  1626.  The  name  of  "  Visitation"  was  at  first  given  by  tlie 
Bisliop  of  Geneva  to  a  conofregation  of  Hermits  of  the  Visitatian,  founded  in 
1608  on  Mount  Vocron,  in  Chamblais,  to  visit  the  ancient  sanctuary  dedi- 
cated to  tlie  Illessod  Virgin  on  that  mountain,  and  which  bad  been  long 
vinorated  in  the  couutiy. 


Hp 


8 


84 


THE  Catholic  church 


ever  attracted  to  the  churches.  The  two  brothers  accordingly 
undertook  to  instruct  her,  with  a  zeal  beyond  all  praise,  and  the 
collection  still  preserved  of  their  letters  and  religious  treatises, 
composed  to  clear  the  douSts  of  Mrs.  Seton,  give  the  highest  idea 
of  tte  merit  of  these  honorable  merchants.  Mrs.  Seton  had 
brought  with  her  to  Italy  only  her  eldest  daughter ;  she  was 
theiefore  anxious  to  return  to  her  other  children,  and  Anthony 
Filicci  was  devoted  enough  to  embark  with  her,  to  continue  the 
work  of  Fo  desirable  a  conversion.  On  arriving  at  New  York, 
Mrs.  Seton  frankly  avowed  her  design  to  her  family,  but  met  a 
formidable  opposition.  They  appealed  to  her  interest,  affection, 
self-love,  to  shame  her  of  a  creed  professed  at  New  York  only, 
they  said,  by  "  Lw  Irish."  This  did  not  suffice ;  they  placed 
near  her  the  Rev.  John  Henry  Hobart,  afterwards  Protestant 
Bishop  of  New  York,  and  that  gentleman  undertook  to  show  her 
the  errors  of  the  Catholic  religion.  But  Mi's.  Seton  sought  other 
count  rrom  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  and  the  distinguished 
clergyi  a,  the  Abbes  Cheverus  and  Matignon,  who  had  sought 
a  refuge  America.  At  last,  regardless  of  all  human  considera- 
tions, Mrs.  Seton  made  her  abjuration  on  the  14tli  of  March,  1805, 
in  St.  Peter's  church,  the  first,  and  long  the  only  Catholic  church 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

This  noble  step  placed  the  courageous  woman  under  her  fami- 
ly's ban ;  and  she  found  herself  abandoned  by  her  wealthy  rela- 
tives. To  shield  her  children  from  want,  Mrs.  Seton  opened  a 
school  at  New  York ;  but  she  was  aided  especially  by  the  chari- 
table care  of  the  two  Filicci ;  and  as  long  as  she  lived,  she  re- 
ceived from  these  generous  Italians  an  annual  pension  of  about 
six  hundred  dollai-s,  not  including  more  considerable  donations  . 
whenever  she  asked  them,  for  her  oi'phans  and  patients.  In  1808 
Mr.  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Montauban,  and  then  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  having  become  acquainted 
with  Afi?.  S  <on.  inlu'^orl  her  to  go  to  Baltimore  and  open  a 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


85 


school  for  girls,  on  a  lot  which  the  Sulpitians  put  at  her  disposal. 
These  occupations  did  not,  however,  fill  up  the  zeal  of  the  young 
widow  :  she  longed  to  conseerate  her  life  to  God,  and  the  assist- 
ance of  the  poor.  Unfortunately,  she  had  no  resources  to  found 
a  religious  establishment,  when  a  young  convert,  Mr.  Samuel 
Cooper,*  who  was  studying  for  the  priesthood  at  Baltimore, 
informed  Mr.  Dubourg  of  his  resolution  to  employ  his  fortune  in 
good  works.  This  coincidence  of  views  seem  to  indicate  the 
designs  of  Providence  ;  and  with  the  approbation  of  Bishup  Car- 
roll, somo  land  was  purchased  near  Emmitsburg,  in  Maryland, 
and  buildings  begun  for  a  convent  of  Sisters  of  Charity.  Mrs. 
Seton  was  already  certain  of  four  associates,  and  they  took  the 
religious  habit  together,  at  Emmitsburg,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1809.  Mr.  Dubourg  immediately  endeavored  to  procure  from 
France  the  Rules  and  Constitution  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Vincent  of 
Paul,  in  order  to  give  them  to  his  new  community.  Mrs.  Seton 
also  desired  that  some  Sisters  of  Charity  should  come  over  from 
France,  to  instruct  them  in  their  duties,  and  the  spirit  of  their 


IsX'l 


*  Samuel  Cooper,  born  in  Virginia,  of  Protestant  parents,  at  first  fol- 
lowed the  sea,  and  visited  various  parts  of  the  globe.  Having  fallen  dan- 
gerously ill  at  Paris,  he  began  to  reflect  on  the  truths  of  faith,  and  after 
several  years  of  study,  he  embraced  Catholicity,  in  the  full  of  1807,  at 
Philadelphia,  during  a  visit  of  Bishop  Carroll  to  that  city.  He  entered  the 
Seminary  at  Baltimore  in  September,  1808,  then  went  to  Italy,  was  ordained 
priest  at  Baltimore,  August  15,  1820,  and  became  pastor  of  the  congregation 
at  Emmitsburg.  He  remained  there  only  nine  months,  and  then  exercised 
tLb  holy  ministry  in  South  Carolina.  He  subsequently  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Holy  Land,  was  employed  in  various  stations  in  the  dioceses  of  Bal- 
timore and  Philadelphia,  and  in  1822  returned  to  France  on  account  of  his 
health.  The  friendship  with  which  Archbishop  Cheverus  honored  him, 
induced  him  to  make  Bordeaux  his  residence.  He  attended  the  illustrious 
Cardinal  on  his  death-bed,  and  departed  this  life  liimself,  at  Bordeaux,  on 
the  16th  of  December,  1843,  reduced  almost  to  indigence  by  hi«  inexhaust- 
ible charities.  He  effected  numerous  conversions  at  Bordeaux :  among 
others,  that  of  Mr.  Strobel,  the  American  Consul,  who  is  now  a  priest  in 
tlie  diocese  of  Philadelphia.— White's  Life  of  Mrs.  Soton,  246,  505.  List 
of  Priests  ordained  at  Ikltimorc. 


■  ?-l  ^ 


e  n 


*-i^ 


86 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


order.  The  Abbe  Flaget,  about  sailing  for  France,  was  intrusted 
with  the  negotiation,  and  tbund  the  mother  house  at  Paris  much 
disposed  to  welcome  with  open  arms  the  Sisters  of  Emmitsburg. 
Sister  Mary  Byseray  repaired  to  Bordeaux  in  1810,  in  order  to 
sail  to  Baltimore ;  but  the  imperial  government  threw  obstacles 
in  her  way,  and  refused  the  necessary  passports.  Mrs.  Seton^s 
community  was,  nevertheless,  increasing ;  in  1812  it  numbered 
twenty  Sisters,  and  at  this  period  elections  were  first  held  for  the 
offices  iri  the  house.  The  Superiorship  naturally  devolved  on  the 
venerable  foundress,  and  she  filled  it  till  her  death  with  equal 
mildness  and  firmness.  In  1814,  a  colony  of  the  Sisters  of  Em- 
rairi)buig  went  to  Philadelphia,  to  take  charge  of  the  Orphan 
Asy  au  In  1817,  the  Bishop  of  New  York  invited  them  also  to 
that  city,  to  gather  the  Catholic  orphans.  The  mother  house 
of  St.  -Joseph's,  Emmitsburg,  contained  the  novitiate,  aud  a 
boarding-school  for  girls,  which  soon  became  very  flourishing. 

All  the  members  of  Mrs.  Seton's  family  were  not  equally  hostile 
to  her  now  state.  Two  of  her  sistere-in-law,  Misses  Cecilia  and 
Henrietta  Seton,  proceeded  to  Emmitsburg,  drawn,  they  believed, 
by  the  desire  of  seeing  their  relative,  and  breathing  the  country 
air.  But  they  were  soon  to  be  enlightened  by  grace,  and  by  the 
example  of  Mrs.  Seton's  sanctity,  and  not  only  embraced  the  true 
faith,  but,  undeterred  by  the  poverty  and  privations  of  a  new 
establishment,  both  took  the  veil  as  novices  at  St.  Joseph's. 
Their  faith  was  soon  rewarded,  and  both  expired  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1810.  Mrs.  Seton  had  also  the  affliction  of  closing 
the  eyes  of  two  of  her  daughters,  the  eldest,  Annina,  who  had 
also  taken  the  habit  as  a  Sister  of  Charity,  and  who  died  piously 
in  1812,  at  the  age  of  seventeen ;  the  youngest,  Rebecca,  who 
also  aspired  after  the  moment  when  she  might  vow  herself  to 
God  and  the  poor,  and  who  yielded  up  her  fair  soul  in  1816,  at 
the  age  of  fourteen.  Human  sorrows,  therefore,  were  not  with- 
held from  Mrs.  Seton ;  but  she  had  the  religious  consolation  of 


seein 

of  he 

the  t 

doubt 

him  f. 

Episc( 

a  Catl 

daugh 

Episco 

ample, 

faith.* 

The 

took  th 

Sisters 

pious  m 

OnlV^ 

Sistei's  c 

four  hui 

and  the 

lunis,  ho 

New  Yo 

dress  an 

United  S 

and  on  tJ 

French  1^ 

adopted  i 

communis 

Superior, 

distinct  b 

house  and 

*  Life  of  1 
1853.  Mpm 
published  w 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


87 


seeing  her  prayers  heard,  in  the  conversion  of  several  members 
of  her  family.  She  died  hereelf,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1821,  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven ;  and  her  prayers  for  her  kindred  are, 
doubtless,  still  more  powerful  with  the  Almighty,  since  she  sees 
him  face  to  face.  H(ir  nephew,  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  at  fii-st  an 
Episcopalian  minister,  then,  at  the  sacrifice  of  wealth  and  fortune, 
a  Catholic  priest,  is  now  Bishop  of  Newark ;  her  godchild,  the 
daughter  of  Bishop  Hobart,  and  wife  of  Dr.  Ives,  lately  Protestant 
Episcopal  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  followed  her  husband's  ex- 
ample, and  last  year  became,  at  Rome,  a  convert  to  the  true 
faith.* 

The  third  daughter  of  the  holy  widow.  Miss  Catharine  Seton, 
took  the  veil  at  New  York  in  April,  1849,  in  the  Order  of  the 
Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  recalls  by  her  virtues  the  example  of  her 
pious  mother. 

On  Mother  Seton's  death  her  community  numbered  fifty.  The 
Sistei's  of  Chanty  of  Emmitsburg  have  constantly  increased,  and 
four  hundred  and  fifty  sisters  now  occupy  in  the  United  States 
and  the  British  Provinces  over  forty  establishments,  orphan  asy- 
lums, hospitals,  boarding-schools,  or  residences.  Except  those  in 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Nova  Scotia,  who  still  adhere  to  tho 
dress  and  rules  o^  Mother  Seton,  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  the 
United  States  have  recently  formed  a  union  with  those  in  France, 
and  on  the  25th  of  March,  1850,  assumed  the  habit  worn  by  tlu' 
French  Sisters,  renewing  their  vows  according  to  the  foi'mnla 
adopted  in  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  The  Emmitsburg 
community  forms  a  province  of  the  order,  with  an  ecclesiastic  as 
Superior,  and  a  visiting  Superioress.  Those  in  New  York  form  a 
distinct  body,  approved  by  the  Holy  See,  and  have  a  mother- 
house  and  novHiate  at  Mount  St.  Vincent's,  near  Harlem.     They 


*  Life  of  Vt>*.  Eliza  A.  Seton,  by  the  Rev.  Charles  I.  Wliite.  New  York, 
1853.  Mfinoirs  of  Mrs.  S****,  written  by  herself.  Elizabethtown,  1819 : 
published  without  the  authority  of  Mrs.  Seton. 


'Ui 


88 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


number  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight,  and  are  scattered  in  over 
twenty  hospitals,  asylums,  and  schools  for  rich  and  poor.* 

These  communities  are  not  inferior  in  zeal  and  charity  to  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  in  France  or  elsewhere,  and  have  often  been  the 
theme  of  Protestant  eulogy .f 

The  Bishop  of  Baltimore  seconded  with  all  his  efforts  the 
foundation  of  these  pious  communities,  and  frequently  visited 
Emmitsburg  on  important  solemnities,  the  taking  of  the  habit,  re- 
newal of  vows,  or  consecration  of  chapels. 

In  his  life,  we  will  not  omit  one  fact  which  has  long  since  led 
to  much  ciscussion.  In  1803,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  a  brother  of 
Napoleon,  jame  to  the  United  States,  in  a  French  frigate,  and 
8p(!nt  some  time  here.  Meeting  Miss  Patterson,  a  Protestant 
lady,  in  Baltimore,  he  became  greatly  attached  to  her,  and  asked 
her  hand  in  marriage.  A  day  was  fixed,  but  it  was  deemed  pru- 
dent to  delay  it  for  two  months,  and  then  Bishop  Carroll  himself 
performed  the  ceremony. 

On  Jerome's  return  to  France  the  wrath  of  the  emperor  burst 
upon  him  and  his  wife,  and  the  latter  was  compelled  to  return  to 
Maiyland.  A  son  was  the  issue  of  this  mairiage,  and  is  really 
the  lawful  heir  of  Jerome.  Napoleon  saw  this  and  sought  to  an- 
nul the  marriage.  He  accordingly  applied  to  Pope  Pius  VII.  on 
the  2 4th  of  May,  1805.  "By  our  laws,"  says  he,  "the  marriage 
is  nuH.  A  Spanish  priest  so  far  forgot  his  duties  as  to  pronounce 
the  benediction.  I  desire  from  your  holiness  a  bull  annulling  the 
marriage.  It  is  important  for  France  that  there  should  not  be  a 
Protestant  young  woman  so  near  my  person." 

Several  of  these  statements  were  untrue,  but  the  Pontiff  was 


*  The  Sisters  of  Charity  in  Kentucky  are  of  a  different  foundation,  as  we 
shall  see.   The  Sisters  of  Providence  at  Burlington  are  also  Sisters  of  Charity. 

t  The  conimanity  of  Sisters  of  Charitj^  servants  of  the  sick  poor,  were 
founded  at  Paris  in  1633  by  Madame  Le  Gras  and  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  It 
low  comptiaes  over  nine  hundred  Si&tcrB  in  six  hundred  establishments. 


not  tci 
exami 
nullity 
declar< 
dudes  i 
pi*onou 
declarai 
usurp  a 
guilty  o 
tie  tribi 
In  spi 
and  plie, 
and  if  th( 
it  was,  b;^ 
Bishop 
number  oi 
^ui'ope,  a^ 
'issign  a  p 
around  hii 
practice  of 
them  to  m 
churches  id 
sixty-eight 
gion  made 
United  Stat 
the  desires 
and  by  a  Bi 
rank  of  a 
erected  at  N 
the  recomm 
named  to  ti 

See  article  in 


IN    lllE    UNITED   STATES. 


89 


not  to  be  deceived.  In  his  reply  on  the  23d  of  June,  the  PontiflF 
examines  and  discusses,  each  in  itf,  turn,  the  several  causes  for 
nullity  put  forwara  by  the  (.> '^eror.  He  reiutes  them  all,  and 
declares  that  none  of  them  caii  invalidate  the  marriage,  and  con- 
cludes :  "  We  may  not  depart  from  the  laws  of  the  Church,  by 
pronouncing  the  invalidity  of  a  marriage  which,  according  to  the 
declaration  of  God,  no  human  power  can  dissolve.  Were  we  to 
usurp  an  authority  which  is  not  ours,  we  should  ^ender  ourselves 
guilty  of  a  most  abominable  abuse  of  our  sacred  ministry  before 
the  tribunal  of  God  and  the  whole  Chi'  ch, ' 

In  spite  of  this  dc.ded  answer  Napoleon  re  irned  to  the  point, 
and  plied  entr*  ,.  ies,  menaces,  and  commands,  but  all  in  vain; 
and  if  the  marriage  was  ever  declared  null,  or  another  performed, 
it  was,  by  the  Pontiff's  decision,  all  illegal.* 

Bishop  Carroll  had,  moreover,  the  consolation  of  seeing  the 
number  of  Catholics  increased  considerably  by  immigration  from 
Europe,  and  also  by  conversions.  Every  piiest  to  ^vhom  he  could 
'issign  a  post  immediately  beheld  a  Catholic  population  spring  up 
around  him,  which  would  have  continued  to  live  aloof  from  the 
practice  of  religious  duties  as  long  as  it  had  no  p'  ^  st  near  to  bring 
them  to  mind.  In  1806  the  prelate  laid  the  con.  i-stono  of  three 
churches  in  Baltimore  alone.  In  1808  he  count  d  in  his  diocese 
sixty-eight  priests  and  eighty  churches,  and  the  progress  of  reli- 
gion made  him  urgently  request  at  Rome  the  division  of  the 
United  States  into  several  bishoprics.  Pope  Piu?  VII.  yielded  to 
the  desires  of  the  venerable  founder  of  the  American  hierarchy, 
and  by  a  Brief  of  April  8th,  1808,  Baltimore  was  raised  to  the 
rank  of  a  Metropolitan  See,  and  four  suffragan  bishoprics  were 
erected  at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  BaVi:?stown.  On 
the  recommendation  of  Bishop  Carroll,  the  Abbe  Oheverus  was 
named  to  the  See  of  Boston,  and  the  Abbe  Flaget  to  that  of 

See  article  in  Freeman's  Journal,  Sept.  11, 1852.   Napdeon  Dynasty,  p.  451. 


90 


THE  OATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Bardntown.  Both  had,  for  ovei  Lwelve  years,  evang^elized  the 
districts  over  which  they  were  cail-jd  by  the  Supreme  Pontiff  to 
exercise  episcopal  jurisdiction.  The  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  of  the 
Order  of  St.  Francis,  was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Philadelphia, 
ar  d  Father  Luke  Concanen,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  to  that 
of  New  York.  The  latter  resided  at  Rome,  and  held  the  posts  of 
Prior  of  St.  Clement's  and  Librarian  of  the  Minerva.  He  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  American  missions,  and  it  was  at  his  sugges- 
tion that  a  Dominican  convent  was  founded  in  Kentucky  i  1805. 
He  had  already  refused  a  mitre  in  Ireland,  but  he  could  not  re- 
gist  the  orders  of  the  Sovereign  Pontift*,  who  sent  him  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  New  World ;  and  he  accordingly  received  episcopal 
consecration  at  Rome  on  the  24th  of  April,  1808,  at  the  hands  of 
Cardinal  Antonelli,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda. 

The  new  bishop  travelled  at  once  to  Leghorn,  and  subsequently 
to  Naples,  where  he  hoped  to  find  a  vessel  bound  to  the  United 
States.  He  bore  the  palliiiai  for  Archbishop  Carroll  and  the 
bulls  of  institution  for  thv  tlireo  new  bishops.  The  French  au- 
thorities, then  in  possessioii  of  Naples,  opposed  his  departure,  and 
detained  him  as  a  prisoner,  although  he  had  paid  his  passage. 
The  pretext  of  these  vexations  was  that  Bishop  Concanen  was  a 
British  subject.  The  prelate  could  not  escape  the  rigors  of  tlie 
police,  and  died  suddenly  in  July,  1810,  poisoned,  it  would  seem, 
by  persons  who  wished  to  get  possession  of  his  effects  and  the 
sacred  vessels  which  it  was  known  he  had  with  him.* 

This  premature  death  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Church  in 
America,  and  caused  the  utmost  grief,  as  new  evils  menaced  the 
Vicar  of  Christ  himself.  When  Pius  VH.  decreed  the  creation  of 
the  Archbishopric  of  Baltimore,  a  French  arniy  occupied  Rome ; 
not,  as  now,  to  befriend  and  protect,  but  to  seize  the  Papal  States 
and  extort  from  the  Supreme  Pontiff  concessions  incompatible 

*  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  New  York,  by  the  liev. 
J.  R.  Bayley,  New  York,  1853,  p.  53. 


with 
the  i 
Amei 
menai 
York 
for  th( 
their  c 
Quirin 
det's  g 
Avignc 
immedi 
persecu 
ceived  1 
of  Apri 
and  the] 
executio 
crated  Oj 
Boston, 
ceived 
At  this  ll 
eloquent| 
^aw,  th( 
the  Ney 
ejus." 
which 
given  in| 
clergy  of 
Ion  on  hi| 
ters:"  " 
the  Con^ 
The  a] 
age,  and 
him  to  t} 


IN     I  HE    UNITED   STATKS. 


91 


ieneral  J  la- 
noble  atul 
I    lis  clergy 


with  the  existence  of  the  Church.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  times,  the  Holy  Father  was  organizing  the  Epiwiopate  iu 
America  at  the  very  moment  when  the  troops  of  General  Miollis 
menaced  him  in  his  palace.  But  when  the  new  Bishop  of  New 
York  died  at  Naples,  Pius  VII.  was  no  longer  at  Rome  to  provide 
for  the  vacancy,  or  see  that  the  balls  of  the  otl '  shops  reached 
their  destination.     He  himself  had  been  dragg  from  the 

Quirinal  on  the  night  of  the  Gui  oi  July,  18f"^ 
det's  gendarmes,  and  carried  as  a  prisoner  fii  < 
Avignon,  then  to  Savona.  Archbishop  Canoll 
immediately  consulted  as  to  means  of  communication  with  the 
persecuted  Pontiff,  and  the  steps  to  be  taken  to  avoid  being  de- 
ceived by  any  pretended  letters.  Owing  to  these  delays,  the  bulls 
of  April  8,  1808,  reached  Baltimore  only  in  September,  1810, 
and  then  by  the  way  of  Lisbon.  They  were  immediately  put  in 
execution.  Pishop  Egan,  first  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  was  conse- 
crated on  the  28th  of  October;  Bishop  Cheverus,  first  Bishop  of 
Boston,  on  the  1st  of  November ;  and  finally.  Bishop  Flaget  re- 
ceived episcopal  consecration  on  the  4th  of  November,  1810. 
At  this  last  ceremony  Bishop  Cheverus  delivered  the  sermon,  and 
eloquently  addressed  Archbishop  Carroll  as  the  Elias  of  the  New 
Law,  the  father  of  the  clergy,  the  guide  of  the  chariot  of  Israel  in 
the  New  "World :  "  Pater  mi.  Pater  mi,  cunus  Israel  et  auriga 
ejus."  He  extolled  the  merits  of  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  to 
which  Bishop  Flaget  belonged,  citing  the  various  testimonies 
given  in  its  honor  at  different  times  by  the  assemblies  of  the 
clergy  of  France,  and  the  phrase  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Fene- 
lon  on  his  death-bed,  "  at  that  moment  when  man  no  longer  flat- 
ters ;"  "  I  know  nothing  more  venerable  or  more  apostolical  than 
the  Congi'egation  of  St.  Sulpice," 

The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  might  now  repose  in  his  glorious 
age,  and  await  with  security  the  moment  when  God  should  call 
him  to  the  reward  of  his  labors.     He  had  commenced  the  min- 


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THE  CATHOLIC   CHUKCH 


istiy  in  America  when  Catholicity  was  persecuted  there,  and  a 
few  poor  missionaries  alone  shared  the  toils  and  perils  of  the  apos- 
tleship.  He  now  beheld  the  United  States  an  ecclesiastical  pro- 
vince, and  in  his  own  diocese  he  had  established  a  seminary, 
colleges,  and  convents;  had  created  religious  vocations  and 
founded  a  national  clergy.  Louisiana,  with  its  Episcopal  See,  its 
convent  and  clergy,  had  also  been  added  to  the  United  States, 
and  was  now  confided  to  one  of  his  clergy  as  its  prelate. 

Yet  the  trials  of  the  Church  in  Europe,  the  prolonged  imprison- 
ment of  Pius  VII.,  filled  with  bitterness  the  last  years  of  the  holy 
and  aged  prelate.  Archbishop  Carroll  lived  long  enough  to  see 
peace  restored  to  the  Church ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
Holy  Father,  on  returning  to  Rome  in  1814,  was  to  name  to  the 
See  of  New  York,  vacant  since  the  death  of  Bishop  Concanen, 
Father  John  Connolly,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  Prior  of  St. 
Clement's.  His  promotion  completed  the  hierarchy  of  the  United 
States.  Soon  after,  the  patriarch  of  that  church,  humbly  begging 
to  be  laid  on  the  ground  to  die,  expired  on  the  3d  of  December, 
1815,  at  the  age  of*eighty,  and  his  death  was  lamented,  not  only 
by  Catholics,  but  also  by  the  Protestants,  who  respected  and  ad- 
mired the  archbishop,  and  mourned  his  death  as  a  public  loss. 

In  person.  Archbishop  Carroll  was  commanding  and  dignified. 
His  voice  was  feeble,  and  he  was  accordingly  less  fitted  for  the 
pulpit;  but  his  discourses  are  models  of  unction  and  classical  taste. 
He  was  a  profound  theologian  and  scholar,  and  in  conversation 
possessed  unusual  charm  and  elegance.  As  a  prelate  he  was 
eminent  for  learning,  mildness,  yet  a  strict  exactness  in  the  ru- 
brics and  usages  of  the  Church.  His  style,  terse  and  elegant,  was 
generally  admired ;  but  of  his  works,  we  have  only  his  contro- 
versy with  Wharton,  his  Journal,  and  some  discourses  given  in 
Brent's  Life  and  elsewhere. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

DIOCESE   OF   BALTIMORE — (1815-1828). 

Most  Bev.  Leonard  Ne«1e,  second  Archbishop— Most  Bev.  Aoibrose  liar^cbal,  third 
Archbishop — Diffioalties  of  bis  administration— Progress  of  Catholicity— Bishops  ap> 
pointed  ft»r  New  Orleans,  Charleston,  Bichmond,  and  Cincinnati — Labors  of  the  Sol- 
pitians— Death  of  Archbishop  Mar6chal. 

,  On  the  death  of  the  first  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  in  1815,  the 
United  States  contained  only  eighty-five  priests^  and  of  this  uum- 
ber  forty-six  were  in  the  Metropolitan  diocese.*  Archbishop 
Leonard  Neale  was  almost  seventy  years  old  wh^  he  was  left 
alone,  burdened  with  the  Episcopacy,  and  painful  infirmities  de- 
prived him  of  the  strength  which  he  would  have  needed  for  his 
high  functions.  We  have  recounted  the  apostolic  labors  of  the 
missionary  and  coadjutor.  After  braving  the  •climate  of  Guiana 
and  the  yellow  fever  of  Philadelphia,  Bishop  Neale  was  to  bear 
in  his  glorious  old  age  the  marks  of  his  toil,  and  he  sought  re- 
pose for  his  last  days  near  the  monastery  of  the  Visitation,  which 
he  had  founded  at  Georgetown.  Yet  when  his  health  permitted, 
and  on  solemn  occasions,  he  appeared  at  Baltimore,  and  devoted 
himself  with  constant  care  to  the  administration  of  his  vast  dio- 
cese. 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1816,  the  American  Church  met  with  a 
severe  loss  in  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Nagot,  whose  name  is 
identified  with  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,  and 
whom  St.  Sulpice  will  ever  revere  as  one  of  her  most  distinguished 
men.    Of  his  arrival  and  labors  in  founding  the  seminary  and 


*  MSS.  of  the  late  Bishop  Bruti  of  VincennoB. 


94 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


college  at  Baltimore  we  have  already  spoken.  He  was  bom  at  * 
Tours  on  the  19th  of  April,  1734,  and  after  a  careful  education 
at  the  hands  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  entered  the  Congregation  of 
St.  Sulpice,  and  for  a  time  taught  divinity  at  Nantes.  Ill  health 
compelled  his  return  to  Paris,  where  he  directed  the  Little  and 
subsequently  the  Great  or  Theological  Seminary.  His  time  was 
devoted  not  merely  to  the  duties,  but  also  to  the  exercise  of  good 
works.  In  America  he  formed  the  noblest  of  our  early  clergy, 
and  labored  zealously  among  the  French  Catholics.  A  paralytic 
attack  and  subsequent  infirmities  compelled  him  in  1810  to  re- 
sign his  post  as  Superior,  a  step  which  he  had  long  sought  to 
take.  Eminent  as  a  confessor  and  a  preacher,  he  was  a  model  of, 
poverty  and  humility.  -  As  a  writer,  he  was  the  author  of  the 
well-known  "  Tableau  General  des  principales  conversions,"  and 
of  a  Lifer  of  Mb.  Olier,  the  venerable  founder  of  St.  Sulpice,  as  well 
as  of  a  French  translation  of  the  Catholic  Christian,  Butler's 
Feasts  and  Fasts,  and  many  of  Bishop  Hay's  excellent  works, 
which,  as  is  usual  witli  the  followers  of  Mr.  Olier,  all  appeared 
anonymously.*      , 

The  death  of  this  aged  and  holy  clergyman  wanied  the 
archbishop  to  consolidate  the  great  work  of  his  life,  and  Dr. 
Neale,  immediately  on  his  accession,  had  j  ited  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  a  petition  requesting  powe*  to  establish  a 
monastery  of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown,  enjoying  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  the  religious  houses  of  the  Institute, 
Pius  VII.  approved  the  motives  of  this  petition  in  1816,  and 
the  venerable  archbishop  had  thus  the  consolation  before  dying 
of  instituting  the  Sisters  at  Georgetown  as  a  regular  community 
of  the  order  founded  by  the  holy  Bishop  of  Geneva  and  St.  Jane 
Frances  de  Chantal.    This  crowned  his  career  on  earth. 

He  again  proved  his  paternal  attachment  to  these  holy  reli- 

*  Laity's  Directory  for  1822,  p.  129. 


•The 
Arohbis 

fSt. 
torted  h 
»wer  fro 
Mile.  Je 
had  don( 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


95 


a  Cheva- 
under 


«ous,  by  giving  them  as  director  a  priest  full  of  zeal,  the  Abb6 
Clorivi^re  *  nephew  of  the  celebrated  Jesuit  of  that  name,  and  less 
known  in  France  as  a  priest  than  as  a  royalist  chief  under  the 
name  of  Limo61an. 

Joseph  Pierre  Picot  de  Limo61an  de  Cloriviere  belonged  to  a 
noble  family  in  Brittany,  was  bom  at  Broons,  November  4th, 
1768,  and  was  a  schoolfellow  of  Chateaubriand.  He  was  an  offi- 
cer in  the  army  of  Louis  XVI.  irhrj  tJri  itaTplutirTn  broke  out. 
He  embraced  with  ardor  the  Ven 
Her  of  St.  Louis  in  1800,  and 
George  Oadoudal.  Implicated 
nal  machine  of  the  3d  Nivose,  aga? 
Limo^lan  escaped  only  by  a  kind, 
the  police,  and  after  being  long  conceal' 
to  emigrate  to  America.  Affianced  to  a  ya 
he  wrote  to  the  family  before  embarking,  to  ask  his  mC^Uded  to 
proceed  to  the  United  States  to  celebrate  their  marriage.  The 
lady,  however,  replied  that  at  the  period  when  Limo61an  was  in 
the  greatest  danger,  she  had  made  a  vow  of .  celibacy  if  her  affi- 
anced should  escape,  and  she  courageously  sacrificed  her  most 
tender  affections  to  be  faithful  to  the  promise  which  she  had  made 
to  Heaven.  The  young  officer  was  enlightened  in  turn  by  this 
example,  and  he  entered  the  seminary  at  Baltimore  in  1808.f 
Ordained  in  1812,  De  Cloriviere  was  the  eighteenth  ecclesiastic 
who  came  from  that  Sulpitian  establishment,  which  has  rendered 
such  service  to  the  Church  in  America.  Archbishop  Carroll,  ap- 
preciating the  consummate  prudence  and  merit  of  De  Cloriviere, 


*  The  Georgetown  MSS.  say,  however,  that  he  was  appointed  Director  by 
Archbishop  Mar^chal. 

t  St.  Beuve  made  Limoelan  figure  in  his  romance  "  Voluptd,"  but  so  dis- 
torted his  character  and  misinterpreted  his  conduct  as  to  provoke  an  an- 
swer from  the  family.  The  young  lady  to  whom  he  had  been  betrothed  was 
Mile.  Jenne  d'Albert.  She  did  not,  however,  complete  the  sacrifice,  as  he 
had  done,  by  consecrating  herself  to  God  in  the  religious  state. 


w 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sent  him  immediately  to  Charleston  to  resist  the  usurpation  of 
power  by  the  laity  in  that  city.  The  Breton  priest  displayed  no 
less  energy  than  conciliation  in  the  most  difiScult  circumstances, 
and  after  some  years  of  effort,  succeeded  in  reforming  inveterate 
abuses.  Called  then  to  direct  the  nuns,  he  displayed  the  qualities 
essential  to  his  new  position,  and  he  became  in  a  measure  the 
second  founder  of  the  Visitation.  Before  leaving  the  subject,  we 
may  make  our  closing  remarks  on  the  Order  in  which  he  took 
so  lively  an  int^est.  In  spite  of  all  efforts,  the  foundation  of 
AJice  Lalor  was  not  shielded,  from  new  trials.  In  1824  its  finan- 
cial embarrassments  were  so  great,  and  the  poverty  of  the  com- 
munity was  so  extreme,  that  they  came  to  the  sad  resolution  of 
dispersing.  But  God  came  to  their  aid  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  Sisters  had  courag^eously  made  up  their  minds  to  the  sacrifice. 
A  wealthy  Sprffiish  merchant  in  New  York,  the  late  John  B.  La- 
sala,  sent  two  of  his  daughters  to  the  Visitation  school,  paying 
several  years'  board  in  advance.  This  timely  aid  enabled  them 
to  await  the  assistance  which  Mr.  De  Cloriviere's  generosity  pre- 
pared for  them.  He  had  ordered  his  property  in  Brittany  to  be 
sold,  in  order  to  give  the  proceeds  to  the  Visitation.  The  trans- 
action met  with  delay,  but  he  was  at  last  able  to  carry  out  his 
projects,  and  he  now  built,  at  his  own  expense,  the  academy,  and 
the  elegant  chapel  dedicated  to  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus.  He 
also  contributed  by  his  donations  to  the  establishment  of  the  free 
school  for  girls. 

"  The  happiness  of  the  Sisters  in  possessing  so  good  a  spiritual 
father  was  not  to  last.  Mr.  Clopiviere  had  greatly  contributed  to 
the  glory  of  God,  and  it  now  remained  for  God  to  glorify  him  in 
his  turn.  He  had  placed  the  community  in  a  flourishing  state, 
and  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  promote  its  success.  He  was 
attacked  with  apoplexy,  and  did  not  long  survive  the  stroke.  He 
retained  the  use  of  his  senses,  and  requested  that  they  would 
bury  him  in  the  middle  of  the  vault,  and  raise  over  his  body  a 


tomb, 

place 

Be  hi 

be  so 

Thi 

memo] 

those  1 

ers  oft 

Afte: 

the  spi] 

voyage 

town  S 

exact  o\ 

and  St. : 

among  i 

commun 

his  missi 

Mary  A 

*MSS 
Augustine 
t  By  hia 
he  had  wi 
France.    ' 
point  of  vi 
rividre  sh( 
the  end  of 
»galn;  an( 
and  to  reli| 
X  Bishop 
the  uncle  o 
tiate  of  the 
from  1804 1 
the  Society 
Carroll,  wh 
pressed  hir 
more  good 
From  the  si 
of  the  uncle 


'^-aUtJMi/kdhiMw  ru 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


9t 


tomb,  which  would  serve,  at  the  burial  of  the  Sisters,  as  a  resting- 
place  for  the  coffin  whilst  the  funeral  ceremony  was  performed. 
He  had  during  life  been  of  service  to  the  Sisters,  and  wished  to 
be  so  even  after  death."* 

Thus  died,  in  1826,  the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Clorivi^re,  leaving  a 
memory  still  in  veneration,f  and  in  his  person  expired  one  of 
those  holy  French  priests  who  may  be  classed  ^mong  the  found- 
ers of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.^ 

After  his  death,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wheeler,  of  Baltimore,  became 
the  spiritual  director  of  the  Visitation,  a'.d  ere  long  he  made  a 
voyage  to  Europe  for  the  good  of  that  cvmmunity.  The  George- 
town Sisters,  constantly  fearing  that  they  were  remiss  in  the 
exact  observance  of  their  rule,  as  ta\ght  by  St.  Francis  de  Sales 
and  St.  Frances  de  Chantal,  never  abandoned  the  design  of  having 
among  them  some  nuns  full  of  the  spirit  and  traditions  of  the 
communities  in  France  and  Savoy.  Mr.  Wheeler  succeeded  in 
his  mission,  and  in  August,  1829,  brought  back  with  him  Sister 
Mary  Agatha  Langlois,  of  Mans,  Sister  Magdalen  d'Ar^ges,  of 


if 


*  MSS.  of  the  Visitation,  communicated  by  the  venerable  Mother  Mary 
Augustine  Gleary,  Superioress  in  1854. 

t  By  his  will  he  condemned  to  the  flames  the  voluminous  memoirs  which 
he  had  written  on  the  events  in  which  he  had  taken  so  active  a  part  in 
France.  This  clause  was  faithfully  executed  at  his  death,  and  in  an  historical 
point  of  view  is  to  be  regretted.  Mother  Cleary  recollects  that  Mr.  De  Clo- 
rividre  showed  her  the  bundles  containing  the  memoirs,  telling  her  that  at 
the  end  of  every  year  ho  sealed  the  account  of  the  year,  and  never  opened  it 
again ;  and  he  added  that  they  contained  much  of  interest  both  to  history 
and  to  religion. 

X  Bishop  England's  Works,  iii.  258.  Peter  Joseph  Picot  de  Clorivifere, 
the  uncle  of  the  former,  was  born  at  St.  Malo  in  1785,  and  entered  the  novi- 
tiate of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1756,  was  detained  a  prisoner  by  Napoleon 
ft-om  1804  to  1809,  was  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  on  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Society  in  1814,  and  died  at  Paris  in  1824.  In  1790  and  1809,  Bishop 
Carroll,  who  was  very  intimately  connected  with  Father  De  Clorivi^re, 
pressed  him  to  come  to  America,  but  the  Father  thought  that  he  could  do 
more  good  in  France  and  r\  Paris  itself,  even  during  the  Reign  of  Terror. 
From  the  similarity  of  names,  we  may  infer  that  the  nephew  was  a  godson 
of  the  uncle. 


•^^imtffKfm"  jW  ftipfiw 


98 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Fribourg,  and  Sister  Mary  Regis  Mordant,  of  Valence.  These 
three  nuns  remained  three  years  at  Georgetown,  and  then  re- 
turned to  France,  seeing  by  the  religious  spirit  reigning  in  the 
community,  and  by  the  exact  observance  of  the  rules,  that  their 
presence  was  no  longer  necessary. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1846,  the  nuns  had  the  afi9iction  of 
losing  their  venerable  foundress,  known  in  religion  under  the 
name  of  Mary  Theresa. 

"  When  she  was  informed  that  the  doctor  judged  her  in  danger 
of  death,  she  with  a  heavenly  expression  exclaimed, '  Glory  be  to 
God  r  She  had  no  other  wish  than  that  the  will  of  God  should 
be  accomplished,  and  concluding  that  the  information  implied  the 
Divine  will,  she  rejoiced  at  the  news.  The  good  odor  of  edifica- 
tion she  had  invariably  diffused  around  her  became  now  stronger. 
It  was  with  sentiments  of  peculiar  veneration  the  Sisters  ap- 
proached her  bedside.  To  dwell  upon  her  virtues  would  be  to 
make  the  eulogy  of  \nrtue.  Suffice  it  then  to  say  that,  like  the 
aurora,  they  increased  till  they  reached  meridian  splendor.  Her 
pure  spirit  was  freed  from  the  prison  of  the  body  to  wing  its  flight 
to  the  realms  above.    May  our  death  be  like  to  hers."* 

The  Order  of  the  Visitation  now  comprises  nine  houses  in  the 
United  States,  all  founded  directly  by  the  mother  house  at 
Georgetown,  except  those  at  Wheeling  and  Keojiuk.  In  these 
they  have  day  and  boarding  schools  for  young  ladies,  as  well  as 
day-schools  for  the  poor.  The  education  received  in  their  insti- 
tutions is  remarkably  good,  and  the  foundation  of  Miss  Lalor  has 
been  an  immense  service  to  America. 

We  have  thus  followed  to  our  times  this  glory  of  Archbishop 
Neale.    Foreseeing  his  approaching  end,  that  holy  prelate  had  in 


•  We  are  indebted  for  these  precioas  details  to  manuscripts  furnished  us 
by  the  venerable  Mother  Mary  Aujrustine  Cleary,  to  whom  we  here  express 
our  gratitude  for  the  interest  she  has  taken  in  our  labors  and  the  aid  which 
Bhe  hatt  afforded. 


ntttii*iittMh>»;  g^.n-  ).iia%c.  !■■»  !>>■■ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


m 


in 


lus 
Ich 


1815  petitioned  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  associate  to  him  in  the 
administration  of  his  diocese  Bishop  Cheverus  of  Boston,  with  a 
right  of  succession  to  the  See  of  Baltimore.  Pius  VII.  consented, 
but  wished  first  to  know  how  he  was  to  replace  Bishop  Cheverus 
at  Boston.  Archbishop  Neale  invited  the  latter  to  Baltimore  to 
confer  with  him  on  the  intentions  of  the  Holy  Father,  but  Bishop 
Cheverus  no  sooner  discovered  the  motive  than  he  begged  to  be 
left  at  Boston.  He  strongly  urged  the  archbishop  to  take  in 
preference  a  coadjutor,  and  named  several  Jesuits  and  Mr.  Mar6- 
chal,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice.  He  also  wrote  on  the  subject  to  the 
Congregation  "  de  propaganda  fide :" 

*'  The  Church  of  Boston  has  become  to  me  a  beloved  spouse, 
and  I  have  never  had  a  thought  of  abandoning  her.  It  is  the 
universal  belief,  as  well  as  my  own,  that  the  Catholic  religion 
would  suffer  great  injury  by  my  removal  and  the  appointment  of 
a  new  bishop,  who  W(tUi)d;^^*una@q<a2^Qbe<JL  ip\ih  aod^unknown  to 
the  diocese,  however  suf^erior  lis  meritii  tv  43lQ^..;.'Balii]biore  has 
many  priests  worthi^t'ihdn  Ji^'^Lsay'i^  from  thy&bottpn)  /jf  my 
soul  and  before  God*),  ^p^clffllji  a^ong  l!i4»^  J^uit  Fsjthers;  "whose 
excellent  qualities,  whose  piety,,  zeal,  and  indefatigable  labors  are 
beyond  all  praise.  The  seminary  of  Baltimore  also  offers  men  of 
truly  apostolical  character,  two  of  whom  have  already  been  raised 
to  the  Episcopacy,  and  are  the  delight  and  glory  ( •'  the  Church 
in  the  United  States.  I  earnestly  pray,  therefore,  that  some  one 
more  worthy  than  myself  may  be  chosen  for  the  coadjutorship  of 
Baltimore."* 

Archbishop  Neale  at  last  yielded  to  his  friend's  wishes,  and  on 
the  refusal  of  several  Jesuits,  he  asked  the  Holy  See  to  appoint 
Mr.  Mar^chal  as  his  coadjutor.  As  soon  as  Bishop  Cheverus 
knew  this  decision  he  wrote  to  Home,  asking  to  remain  at  Boston. 

*  life  of  Cardinal  Cheverus,  by  the  Kev.  J.  Huen  Dubourg.  Phil.  1889 . 
p.  106.  This  is  translated  by  Bobert  Walsh,  Esq. ;  but  tke  real  author  is  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Humon,  a  Snlpitian,  as  appears  by  later  French  editions. 


\:^ 


100 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


"  I  shall  tejoice  to  see  Mr.  Mar6cbal  performing  the  Episcopal 
functions  at  Baltimore,  where  he  and  his  brethren  of  St.  Sulpice 
have  been  the  masters  and  models  of  the  clergy,  and  have  con- 
ciliated universal  regard." 

Pius  VII.  approved  the  new  arrangement,  and  by  a  brief  of 
July  24,  1817,  he  appointed  Mr.  Ambrose  Mar6chal  coadjutor  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  with  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Stauro- 
polis.  But  before  the  date  even  of  the  brief,  Archbishop  Neale 
had  sunk  under  his  infirmities.  He  died  at  Georgetown,  on  the 
15th  of  June,  1817,  and  his  mortal  remains  were  laid  in  the  con- 
vent chapel  of  the  Visitation,  where  they  still  remain.  "  Thus," 
says  his  biographer,  "thus  in  death  was  he  placed  where  his 
affections  were  strongest  in  life ;  and  thus,  in  the  last  honors  to 
his  mortal  remains,  was  preserved  a  parallel  to  the  last  sad  tribute 
to  St.  Francis  of  Sales.  The  body  of  Archbishop  Neale  sleeps 
under "tHef  diapel'd?  the'  cOiivent'^^/ndod*  by  him  in  America; 
that  of,  ^t,  FMacis'  unde/  th6  "ctrardif  t>f  "the  convent  which  he 
founded  inJEurepe.v  Annecy  haa1ie***8aint*"4o  may  we  hope  that 
Georgejtowli'haa  hCTs."^**  •        *'*,»'.'.'./ 

Before  his  death  A'-chbishop  Neale  had  the  satisfaction  of 
learning  that  a  bishop  had  been  consecrated  for  New  Orleans,  and 
that  the  reorganization  of  that  diocese  presaged  better  days  for 
the  Church  in  the  United  States.  A  See  had  been  founded  in 
1793  at  the  capital  of  Louisiana,  then  a  Spanish  province,  and 
the  diocese  had  been  intrusted  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Luis  Pefialver  y 
Cardenas,  who  administered  it  from  1795  to  1801 ;  but  as  that 
colony  changed  masters  three  times  in  three  years,  great  disorders 
ensued  in  the  ecclesiastical  administration,  and  Archbishop  Car- 
roll, canonically  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  vacant 
See,  could  afford  only  an  imperfect  remedy  to  the  evils  of  that 
church.     The  captivity  of  the  Holy  Father  frustrated  all  hopes  of 

* 
*  Notice  on  the  Most  Rov.  Leonard  Neale,  by  M.  C.  Jenkins,  in  the  Cath- 
olic Magazine  for  1844,  p.  &12. 


IK  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


101 


nt 

ittt 

of 


any  definitive  arrangement,  and  then  what  authority  could  be 
exercised  by  the  bishops  of  Baltimore  over  a  city  a  thouHand 
miles  ofif?  The  Abb6  Dubourg,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice  at  Balti- 
more, had  been  appointed  in  1812  administrator  of  New  Orleans. 
At  last  the  pacification  of  the  Church  and  of  Europe,  in  1816,  per- 
mitted the  Hdy  Father  to  regulate  the  afiairs  of  that  distant  See, 
and  Mr.  Dubourg  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  on  the 
28th  of  September,  1815,  at  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world.* 

The  bulls  appointing  Archbishop  Mar^chal  did  not  reach  Bal- 
timore till  the  10th  of  November,  1817,  five  months  after  the 
death  of  his  venerable  predecessor,  and  he  was  consecrated  on  the 
14th  of  December  following,  by  Bishop  Cheverus  of  Boston. 
Ambrose  Mar6chal,  thus  raised  to  the  primacy  of  the  American 
Church,  was  bom  at  Ingre,  near  Orleans,  in  iVCS.f  When  he 
had  completed  his  classical  course,  he  felt  a  vocation  for  the  eccle- 
siastical state,  but  his  family  opposed  his  designs  so  warmly  that 
he  at  first  yielded  to  their  desires,  and  began  the  study  of  law, 
intending  to  practise  at  the  bar.  The  young  advocate  soon 
found,  however,  that  he  was  called  to  a  far  different  life,  and  after 
having  shown  all  due  deference  to  his  family^s  wishes,  at  last  en- 
tered the  Sulpitian  Seminary  at  Orleans.  The  persecutions  of 
revolutionary  France  did  not  shake  his  resolution,  but  he  resolved 
to  depart  from  a  land  that  martyred  its  faithful  plergy,  and  he 
embarked  at  Bordeaux  for  the  United  States,  with  the  Abbes 
Matignon,  Richard,  and  Ciquard.  It  was  on  the  very  eve  of  his 
embarkation  that  the  yoang  Abb6  Mar6chal  was  privately  or- 
dained, and  such  were  the  horrors  of  those  unhappy  times,  that 
he  was  even  prevented  from  saying  Mass.  He  celebrated  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  for  the  first  time  at  Baltimore,  where  he  arrived 


*  Life  of  the  Rt.  Rov.  B.  J.  Flaget,  by  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bishop  of  Louis- 
ville.   Louisville,  1832,  p.  166. 

t  Wo  adopt  the  date  given  in  American  biographies  of  the  prelate.  The 
Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  iv.  224,  give  as  the  date  the  year  1762. 


102 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


with  his  companions  on  the  24th  of  June,  1702.    It  was  Mr. 
Emery's  intention  to  open  at  Baltimore  an  academy  for  mathe- 
matical sciences,  and  Mr.  Mardchal  was  thought  of  as  one  of  the 
professors ;  but  this  project  having  been  abandoned,  the  young 
priest  was  successively  sent  as  missionary  to  St.  Mary's  county 
and  to  Bohemia.     In  1700  he  was  called  to  functions  more  in 
harmony  with  his  vocation  ns  a  Sulpitian,  and  became  professor 
of  theology  at  the  seminary  in  Baltimore.    He  was  soon  after 
sent  to  teach  philosophy  in  the  Jesuit  college  at  Georgetown,  and 
then  returned  to  Baltimore  to  continue  his  courses  of  theology,  in 
which  he  displayed  no  less  science  than  talent.    After  some 
years,  however,  the  seminary  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  its 
eloquent  professor.    Religious  affairs  in  France  having  assumed  a 
brighter  aspect,  the  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice  recalled  the  Abb6 
Mar^chal  to  aid  him  in  reorganizing  and  directing  several  houses 
of  the  Society.     Obedience  here  was  easy,  as  it  wafted  him  back 
to  his  native  shores.    Mr.  Mar^chal  accordingly  arrived  in  France 
in  July,  1803,  and  was  employed  with  distinction  in  several  ec- 
clesiastical institutions,  especially  at  St.  Flour,  Lyons,  and  Aix. 
Those  who  studied  under  him  always  preserved  the  deepest  ven- 
eration, a  proof  of  which  exists  in  the  rich  present  sent  him  by 
the  priests  of  Marseilles,  when  they  learned  his  elevation  to  the 
Episcopacy.    It  consists  of  a  superb  marble  altar,  which  still 
adorns  the  cathedral  in  Baltimore,  and  which  by  its  inscription 
recalls  the  gratitude  and  affection  of  scholars  for  their  master.*' 

*  The  inscription  is : 

Hoc  Altare 

A  Massiliensibus  Sacerdotibns 
V I  Ambr.  Archiepo.  Bait. 

Eoram  in  Sacra  Theologia  olim  Professori 
Orate  oblatum 
Ipse  Deo  Salvatori  in  honorem  ejus  Sanotissimse 
Matria 
Conseoravit  die  81a  Maii  1821. 
See  sketch  in  Catholic  Almanac  for  1886.    U.  S.  Cath.  Mag.  for  1845,  p.  82. 


II 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


108 


Meanwhile  his  American  friends  wrote  constantly,  expressing 
regrtit  for  his  absence,  and  reminding  him  of  the  good  he  might 
still  be  doing  in  Baltimore.  When,  therefore,  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment, in  1812,  took  from  the  Sulpitians  the  direction  of  the 
Seminaries,  the  learned  professor  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  his 
friends,  and  re-embarked  for  the  United  States.  He  at  once  re- 
sumed his  old  functions  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  and  was  for  a 
time  President  of  the  College.  This  life  of  study,  so  akin  to  his 
taste,  was  not,  however,  to  last;  and  in  1816  he  was  informed 
of  his  nomination  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  the  see  of  Phila- 
delphia. In  vain  did  he  endeavor  to  escape  these  honors :  it  was 
■  only  to  have  far  greater  imposed  upon  him  by  pontifical  authority. 
He  alleged  the  importance  of  leaving  him  at  his  studies,  at  least 
till  the  completion  of  a  theological  work  adapted  to  the  religious 
condition  of  the  United  States.  But  the  Church  chose  to  employ 
his  merit  in  more  eminent  functions,  and  Mr.  Mar^chal  consented 
to  become  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

Thd  earlier  days  of  his  administration  were  thick  sown  with 
trials  of  the  most  painful  character.  The  Catholics  in  the  United 
States,  living  amid  a  Protestant  population,  and  influenced  by 
the  surrounding  ideas  of  independence,  have  not  always  shown 
the  subordination  ever  to  be  desired  towards  pastore.  The 
temporal  administration  of  the  churches  is  the  source  of  constant 
collisions ;  and  the  laity,  seeing  the  manner  in  which  the  Protest- 
ant churches  are  managed,  too  frequently  usurp  powers  not  their 
own.  Archbishop  Mar6chal  had  thus  to  struggle  with  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  and  faction,  which  threatened  to  result  in  an 
open  schism.  In  this  difficult  position,  the  prelate  displayed  that 
zeal,  that  prudence,  that  demotion  to  his  flock,  that  firm  adherence 
to  true  principles,  which  have  ever  characterized  great  bishops, 
and  which  eventually  checked  the  progress  of  the  disorder,  under 
which  the  cause  of  religion  threatened  to  sink.  His  pastoral  in 
1819  showed  the  extent  of  the  evil  and  the  wisdom  of  the  remedy. 


i  \ 


104 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


It  laid  down  with  preciseness  the  reciprocal  rights  and  duties  of 
the  clergy  and  laity ;  it  shows  the  entire  inaptitude  of  the  latter 
to  interfere  in  the  spiritual  government  of  the  Church,  and  points 
out  to  the  priests  the  calamities  which  would  afflict  religion,  if 
they  neglected  the  obligations  of  their  sacerdotal  character.     It 
maintains  the  exclusive  right  for  the  episcopal  authority,  of  ap- 
pointing priests  to  parishes  and  for  other  duties,  and  concludes  in 
these  words  :    "  In  the  midst  of  the  troubles  and  persecutions  to 
which  you  are  now,  or  may  hereafter  be  exposed,  be  careful,  after 
the  example  of  the  Saints,  dearest  brethren,  daily  to  entreat  with 
fervor  your  heavenly  Father,  to  take  under  his  special  protection 
yourselves,  your  families,  your  friends,  your  pastors,  and  all  the 
Catholics  of  the  United  States.    The  Church  of  Christ  in  this 
country  is  now  in  affliction.     Dissensions  and  scandals  threaten 
to  destroy  her  peace  and  happiness.     As  for  you^  dear  brethren, 
strive  to  console  her  by  every  possible  mark  of  respect,  attach- 
ment, obedience,  and  love ;  for  though  surrounded  with  difficul- 
ties, though  even  attacked  by  some  unnatural  children,  still  she 
is  your  mother,  your  protectress,  your  guide  on  earth,  and  the 
organ  by  which  Divine  mercy  communicates  to  you  the  treasure 
of  His  grace,  and  all  the  means  of  salvation.*" 

Other  obstacles,  of  a  more  personal  nature,  afflicted  Archbishop 
Mar^chal,  and  embarrassed  his  administration.  The  enemies  of 
the  Church  endeavored  to  sow  distrust  and  jealousy  among  the 
Catholics,  by  complaining  that  foreigners.  Frenchmen,  were  pro- 
moted to  the  highest  dignities,  instead  of  Americans,  natives  of 
the  country,  or  at  least  natives  of  Ireland,  as  these  latter  now 
began  to  form  the  majority  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States. 
The  French  priests,  moulded  in  a  stricter  school,  many  of  them 
exiles  for  conscience'  sake,  were  not  as  tolerant  as  some  others 
of  abuses,  which  had  and  could  not  but  have  grown  up.     Hence 


*  U.  S.  Catholio  Magazine  for  1845,  p.  8tf. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


105 


they  were  accused  of  being  imbued  with  monarchical  ideas,  of 
misunderstanding  the  repubUcan  character ;  they  werQ  reproached 
with  not  speaking  English  perfectly,  and  of  forming  a  clique  with 
its  predilections  and  'antipathies.    These  preventions  have,  down 
to  the  present  time,  influenced  some  minds  even  in  the  Church ; 
and  if  in  general  full  justice  was  done  the  French  clergy,  this 
concert  of  praise  was  not  without  some  contradiction.     And 
such,  we  regret  to  see,  even  in  the  writings  of  Bishop  England. 
This  prelate,  whose  merit  and  virtues  are  above  all  praise,  does 
not  seem  to  have  entertained  as  warm  a  feehng  of  brotherhood 
towards  his  French  colleagues  as  was  desirable  ;  and  he  gives  it 
as  his  opinion,  that  the  progress  of  Catholicity  would  have  been 
much  more  rapid,  had  the  episcopate  been  differently  constituted. 
Yet  the  facts  were  clearly  r.gainst  him ;  for  bishops  of  every  na- 
tion have  met  equal  diflBculties  in  the  United  States.    The  Holy 
See  would  doubtless  have  preferred  to  find  in  the  United  States 
in  1808  and  1816,  the  elements  of  a  national  clergy.    But  these 
elements  existed  only  in  the  few  survivoi-s  of  the  Society  of  Jesus^ 
all  broken  by  years  and  toil.     Catholic  Ireland,  which  sent  her 
emigrants,  was  scarce  able  to  obtain  a  supply  of  priests  for  her 
own  churches ;  much  less  was  she  able  to  send  any  to  America, 
for  the  French  revolution  had  broken  up  her  seminaries  in  France 
and  Flanders.    That  same  revolution  had  sent  many  of  the  best 
of  the  clergy  of  France  to  the  United  States;  and  these  had 
raised  up  churches  in  a  hundred  different  points,  had  gathered 
together  the  scattered  Catholics,  had  conciliated  the  Protestants 
towards  them,  and  planted  Catholicity  on  a  sure  basis.     Where, 
then,  were  bishops  to  be  chosen,  except  among  these  men,  already 
active  missionaries  in  the  field?    and  surely  the  ecclesiastical 
spirit  which  animated  them,  their  knowledge  of  the  governmental 
traditions  of  the  Church,  were  in  a  Flaget,  a  Cheverus,  a  Mar6- 
chal — qualities  far  more  essential  than  a  greater  or  leas  elegance 
in  speaking  the  language  of  Milton. 


106 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Yet  the  Holy  See,  with  its  ordinary  prudence,  made  it  a  duty 
to  respect  the  susceptibilities  of  the  Catholics  in  America.  The 
two  first  Archbishops  of  Baltimore  were  natives  of  Maryland ;  of 
the  four  bishops  appointed  in  1808,  two  were  of  Irish  birth,  to 
satisfy  the  emigrants  from  Ireland ;  but  so  small  was  the  number 
of  priests  of  that  nation  in  the  country,  that  tlien  and  later,  cler- 
gymen had  to  be  named  who  had  never  resided  in  the  United 
States. 

With  an  equal  desire  for  harmony,  the  Propaganda  called  to 
join  in  founding  this  new  church  the  different  religious  orders 
most  devoted  to  the  missions.  Among  the  six  prelates  who  gov- 
erned or  were  named  to  the  American  church  in  1808,  were  two 
ex-Jesuits,  one  Dominican,  one  Franciscan,  a  Sulpitian,  and  a 
secular  priest.  Thus  the  field  was  open  to  all  the  varieties  of  the 
great  ecclesiastical  family,  and  the  Holy  See  encouraged  the  zeal 
of  all  its  laborers  to  go  and  work  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

In  spite  of  the  clouds  of  which  we  have  spoken,  the  number  of 
Catholics  constantly  increased;  many  were  discovered  in  the 
States  most  removed  from  the  Episc^^^al  Sees,  and  Archbishop 
Mar^chal  saw  how  urgent  it  was  to  solicit  at  Rome  a  new  subdi- 
vision of  the  dioceses. 

It  will  not  be  useless  to  define  here  in  what  this  increase  of  the 
Catholic  population  consists,  of  which  we  must  render  an  account 
periodically  in  each  diocese,  and  which  has  made  it  necessary  to 
multiply  the  bishops  from  one  to  forty  in  the  space  of  sixty  years. 
Are  we  to  imagine,  like  many  good  souls  in  Europe,  the-:  thou- 
sand? of  conversions  swell,  month  by  month,  the  crowded  ranks 
of  the  faithful  ?  Surely  not.  God  does  not  now  bestow  on  his 
Church  the  grace  of  bringing  in  the  masses,  as  in  the  days  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier.  The  conversions,  which  have  never  ceased,  take 
place  in  the  most  enlightened  classes ;  every  return  to  unity  is 
individual ;  and  the  total  of  these  conquests  from  error,  at  which 
heaven  and  earth  rejoice,  cannot  be  counted  by  millions.     Immi- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


107 


gration,  th  r  .creases  numerically  the  strength  of  the  Catholic 
religion:  ar(.  especially  as  the  clergy  increase  in  numbers,  as 
Episcopal  supervision  approaches  the  limits  of  the  settled  States 
and  Territories,  the  sight  of  these  priests  awakens  the  faith  in  the 
hearts  of  the  descendants  of  the  Catholics ;  it  brings  out  children 
of  the  Church  where  men  expected  only  to  find  a  Protestant  or 
indifferent  race,  and  it  brings  back  to  religion  the  present  genera- 
tion by  assuring  the  salvation  of  generations  to  come.  The  priest 
in  the  United  States  eflfects,  then,  chiefly  the  conversion  of  those 
born  in  the  faith,  but  whom  poverty  has  removed  beyond  all  re- 
ligious succor,  and  who  would  die  without  faith,  leaving  children 
without  a  creed,  if  the  Church  were  not  ever  on  the  alert,  with 
admirable  zeal,  to  seek  her  children  in  the  uttermost  limits  be- 
tween civilization  and  barbarism.  Are  not  these  precious  con- 
quests, which  restore  to  God  unnumbered  souls  whose  thoughts 
were  bent  solely  to  earth  ?  And  yet,  what  a  responsibihty  does 
not  the  parent  incur  who  plunges  into  the  depths  of  the  forest, 
far  from  church  and  priest,  in  search  of  necessi  ies  of  position  or 
fortune,  which  are  often  only  pretexts  I 

Archbishop  Marechal  saw,  then,  that  three  States  south  of  Ma- 
ryland contained  many  more  Catholics  than  was  at  first  supposed. 
North  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  had  long  had  only  one 
priest,  a  native  of  France,  who  had  accompanied  the  colonists 
that  fled  from  St.  Domingo.  At  a  later  date  some  parishes  were 
formed,  but  the  spirit  of  revolt  animated  them,  and  the  Abbe  de 
Cloriviere  had  great  diflficulty  in  restoring  peace,  as  we  have 
stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  The  great  distance  of 
Baltimore  from  these  States  rendered  all  Episcopal  superintend- 
ence impossible,  and  in  1818  the  Rev.  Robert  Browne,  an  Irish 
Augustinian,  who  had  been  for  eight  years  a  missionary  at  Au- 
gusta in  Georgia,  proceeded  to  Rome  as  the  bearer  of  a  petition 
of  the  Catholics,  asking  that  the  Caroliufis  and  Georgia  should  be 
separated  from  the  See  of  Baltimore.     They  solicited  the  ereetioQ 


108 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


.  i 


of  a  new  diocese,  of  which  the  See  should  be  at  Charleston.  The 
archbishop  supported  this  petition,  which  was  made  with  his  en- 
tire concurrence,  and  the  Pope,  by  his  brief  of  July  11th,  1820, 
raised  Dr.  John  England  to  the  dignity  of  Bishop  of  Charleston. 
Dr.  England  was  then  pastor  of  Brandon,  in  the  diocese  of  Cork ; 
he  had  several  times  expressed  a  desire  to  go  to  America,  and  was 
animated  with  great  zeal  for  that  mission.  He  was  consecrated 
at  Cork  on  the  21st  of  September,  1820,  and  at  once  embarked 
for  South  Carolina. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Holy  See  thought  proper  to  form  the 
State  of  Virginia  into  a  distinct  diocese,  and  to  name  a  bishop  for 
Richmond,  the  capital.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  archbishop 
represented  this  new  erection  as  probably  premature.  Virginia 
is  contiguous  to  Maryland,  and  Archbishop  Mar^chal  could  very 
easily  superintend  the  churches  there,  more  especially  as  the 
number  of  Catholics  was  very  limited.  As  we  show  elsewhere, 
the  exercise  of  our  religion  had  been  prohibited,  under  the  se- 
verest penalties,  prior  to  1776.  The  archbishop  laid  the  mat- 
ter, as  he  viewed  it,  before  the  authorities  at  Rome,  and  the  Pro- 
paganda, always  ready  to  gain  information  and  take  advice  from 
the  hierarchical  authorities,  confided  the  administration  of  the 
diocese  of  Richmond  to  the  archbishop.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick 
Kelly,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  See  of  Richmond,  and  had 
spent  some  months  at  Norfolk,  was  transferred,  in  1821,  to  the 
See  of  Waterford  and  Lismore  in  Ireland,  where  he  died  on  the 
8th  of  October,  1829,*  and  this  provisional  organization  subsisted 
till  1841,  when  the  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  V.  Whelan  was  appointed 
to  the  See  of  Richmond. 

•  Eev.  Patrick  Kelly  was  President  of  Birohfleld  College,  near  Kilkenny, 
when  nominated  to  the  See  of  Bichmond.  The  Catholic  Almanac  of  138<J 
saya  that  he  labored  with  great  zeal  for  the  good  of  his  diocese,  dur;:  ,^  his 
short  stay  in  America,  and  that  he  was  transferred  to  Waterford  on  account 
of  hi»  health.  According  to  tho  same  authority,  he  left  this  oountry  only  in 
Juiy,  1«12. 


■J'  ■ 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


109 


Bishop  England,  who  had  doubtless  been  concerned  in  the 
erection  of  the  new  See,  did  not  approve  the  course  of  his  metro- 
politan, and  in  a  letter  to  the  Council  of  the  Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith,  thus  expresses  himself:* 

"  It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  of  this  to  pass  judgment 
upon  others,  but  he  thinks  that  among  other  mistakes,  the  oppo- 
sition to  the  separate  administration  of  the  diocese  of  Richmond, 
by  causing  its  bishop  to  return  to  Ireland,  as  soon  as  he  could 
obtain  permission  from  the  Holy  See,  has  been  by  no  means  fa- 
vorable to  the  maintenance  of  religion  in  the  State  of  Virginia. 
This  mistake  is  about  to  be  remedied,  but  the  past  cannot  be  re- 
called." 

While  Archbishop  Mar^chal  was  soliciting  the  division  of  his 
diocese.  Bishop  Flaget  of  Bardstown  was  also  asking  at  Rome  the 
division  of  his;  and  by  his  Bull  of  June  19th,  1821,  Pius  Vll. 
founded  the  See  of  Cincinnati,  and  called  to  it  Father  Edward 
Fenwick,  a  Marylander,  and  long  a  Dominican  missionary  in 
Kentucky.  The  new  bishop  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Flaget, 
January  13th,  1822,  at  St.  Rose's  Convent,  Kentucky;  and  thus, 
at  the  commencement  of  1822,  the  United  States  were  divided 
into  nine  dioceses,  viz. : 

1.  Baltimore,  comprising  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia. 

2.  Boston,  comprising  the  six  New  England  States. 

3.  New  York,  comprising  the  State  of  New  York  and  half  of 
New  Jersey. 

4.  Philadelphia,  comprising  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
half  of  New  Jersey. 


♦  This  passage  is  in  a  long  communication  addressed  from  Rome  in  1886 
to  the  Councils  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  by  Bishop  England.  It  is 
suppressed  in  the  translation  given  in  the  Annals,  x.  248,  but  is  restored  in 
his  works,  vol.  iii.  p.  244.  There  are  also  other  omissions  in  the  French 
version. 


110 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


.1-.;.!^- 


6.  Bardstown,  comprising  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

6.  Charleston,  comprising  the  two  Carolinas  and  Georgia. 

7.  Richmond,  comprising  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  adminis- 
tered by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  '  :„:.„.... 

8.  Cincinnati,  comprising  Ohio,  Michigan,  and   Northwest 
Territory.      -^  ■■■  i 

9.  New  Orleans,  comprising  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Mis- 
souri. 

Archbishop  Mar6chal  had  the  consolation  of  opening  for  divine 
worship  the  cathedral  of  Baltimore,  which  had  been  begun  by 
Archbishop  Carroll  eighteen  years  before.  On  the  31st  of  May, 
1821,  this  beautiful  church  was  solemnly  dedicated,  and  its  By- 
zantine architecture,  though  not  a  model  of  taste,  is  not  destitute 
of  grandeur  in  its  proportion.  Its  situation  on  the  summit  of  a 
pyramidal  hill,  on  which  the  houses  of  the  city  are  built,  gives  to 
Baltimore  the  aspect  of  an  entirely  Catholic  city,  where  the 
cathedral  towers  above  all  the  other  monuments,  as  in  our  Euro- 
pean cities.  The  archbishop  obtained  in  France  numerous  pres- 
ents, a  painting  and  vestments,  with  which  he  adorned  the  temple 
that  he  had  raised.  Archbishop  Mar6chal  could  here  display  all 
the  pomp  of  our  worship,  being  aided  by  the  Sulpitians  of  the 
seminary,  who  had  preserved  all  the  traditions  of  the  ceremonial. 
Nothing  is  more  desirable  than  thus  to  surround  religion  with 
the  dignity  which  is  its  noblest  apanage.  The  poverty  of  the 
sanctuary,  or  their  narrow  precincts,  too  often  deprives  the  faith- 
ful in  the  United  Stat,es  of  the  most  imposing  solemnities.  The 
absence  of  ceremonies  likens  our  churches  to  the  coldness  of  secta- 
rian halls,  but  the  pomp  of  worship,  while  it  revives  the  faith  of 
Catholics,  produces  a  salutary  impression  on  such  of  our  separated 
brethren  as  witness  it.  Nothing  is,  then,  more  desirable  than  to 
see  large  churches  multiplied  in  the  United  States,  and  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  was  one  of  the  first  to  appreciate  the  advantage 
which  religion  might  derive  from  them. 


*  Hf 


St.: 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Ill 


The  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  which  was  initiating  the  American 
clergy  in  the  study  of  theology  as  well  as  in  the  rubrics  and  cere- 
monial, at  one  time  assumed  a  great  development  in  the  United 
States.  At  Baltimore  they  had  directed,  since  1791,  the  seminary 
and  the  college  of  St.  Mary's;  in  1806,  the  Abb6  Dillet  founded, 
at  Pigeon  Hills  in  Pennsylvania,  a  college  intended  to  give  a  re- 
ligious education  to  boys  whose  piety  and  qualities  seemed  to  show 
a  decided  vocation  for  the  priesthood.  No  scholar  was  received 
except  on  the  recommendation  of  his  confessor.  In  1809  the 
Abb6  Dubois  founded,  near  Emmitsburg,  the  seminary  and  college 
of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  aflSliated  himself  to  the  Society  of  St. 
Sulpice,  in  order  to  carry  on  this  double  establishment.  But  in 
1819  the  Sulpitians  resolved  to  limit  their  sphere  of  action,  and 
Mount  St.  Mary's  ceased  to  be  under  their  superintendence.  They 
also  suppressed,  in  1852,  their  college  of  St.  Mary's,  replaced, 
however,  by  Loyola  College,  a  new  institution  of  the  Jesuits.  At 
the  present  moment,  St.  Sulpice  directs  only  two  establishments 
in  the  United  States — St.  Mary's  Seminary,  which  numbers 
twenty-three  theologians,  and  the  Preparatory  Seminary  of  St. 
Charles,  which  contains  forty-two  scholars.  This  latter  institution 
is  within  a  few  miles  of  Baltimore,  offering  greater  advantages 
than  Pigeon  Hills,  which  it  superseded  in  1849.  These  two 
houses,  as  well  as  the  seminary  of  Montreal,  maintain  a  close 
union  with  the  Society  in  Paris,  and  visitors  are  sent  from  France 
at  short  intervals.* 

Archbishop  Marechal  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  miraculous 
cures  effected  in  his  diocese  by  the  prayers  of  Prince  Alexander 


*  St.  Mftry's  Seminary  has  had  only  four  Superiors  since  its  foundation : 
1791,  Francis  Nagot;  1810,  John  Tessier;  1888,  Deluol;  1849,  Francis 
Lhomme.  The  Superior  i«  always  a  Vicar-general.  St.  Mary's  College  has 
had  among  its  celebrated  Presidents — 1804,  Dubourg,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
New  Orleans  ;  1818,  Brut6,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Viucennes ;  1829,  Eccleston, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Baltimore;  1834,  Chanche,  Bishop  of  Natchez. 
Mount  St.  Mary's  retained  Mr.  Dubois  as  President  from  1809  to  1826.    On 


112 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Hohenlohe,  and  he  might  hope  that  God  had  regarded  with  a 
'favorable  eye  the  Church  iu  America,  to  which  such  favors  were 
reserved.  On  the  10th  of  March,  1824,  Mrs.  Anne  Mattingly,  at 
the  point  of  death,  given  up  by  physicians,  was  suddenly  cured  on 
the  last  day  of  a  novena  which  she  had  undertaken  in  conformity 
with  the  directions  of  the  holy  prince.  The  fame  of  this  extraor- 
dinary cure  was  immense,  for  it  took  place  at  Washington,  the 
capital  of  the  United  States,  of  which  city  her  brother  was  mayor 
at  the  time.  Her  cure  was  perfect,  and  she  lived  thirty  years 
after  it,  dying  only  in  1855. 

The  miraculous  cure  of  a  Visitation  nun,  at  Georgetown,  took 
place  soon,  after,  and  these  two  events,  supported  by  the  most  au- 
thentic and  most  respectable  testimony,  exercised  a  considerable 
influence  in  bringing  many  Protestants  to  study  the  Catholic 
dogmas.* 

Archbishop  Mar6chal  went  to  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of  1821, 
to  lay  the  state  of  his  diocese  before  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  In 
1826  he  visited  Canada,  whither  the  interests  of  religion  led  him, 
for  he  shrank  from  no  fatigue  at  the  call  of  duty.  But  the  cruel 
pangs  of  a  dropsy  in  the  chest  soon  condemned  him  to  absolute 
repose.  He  bore  the  pains  of  a  long  illness  with  Christian  cour- 
age, and  died  on  the  29th  of  January,  1828,  in  the  expectation  of 
a  blessed  inmiortality. 

bis  appointment  to  the  See  oi  New  York,  the  Rev.  Deburgo  £gan,  an  alnm- 
nns  of  the  institution,  succeeded  him.  After  him,  Rev.  John  Purcell,  now 
Archbishop  of  Cincinnati,  became  President.  The  seminary  and  college 
are  now  under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  John  McCaffrey.  The  seminary 
contains  fourteen  theologians ;  the  college,  one  hundred  and  seventy-flve 
scholars. 

*  The  testimony  as  to  Mrs.  Mattingly's  cure  takes  up  fifty  pages  in  the 
third  volume  of  Bishop  England's  works. 

.4* 


M(wtB«^ 
and  tb( 
Leopol 
vloiu  8; 

As  S 
disease 
a  coadji 
Dr.  Jan 
8ubmitt< 
8th  of  J 
quest,  ai 
of  Apol 
Archbisl 
crated  i 
May,  18: 
Flaget,  V 
importan 
began  a : 
heart,  ani 
he  was  a 
most  grai 
shone  on 
James 

Novembe 
family,  w 


*  Life  of 


iiMTiTinWi 


mmS^simm 


IN  THE  UNTTBD  STATES. 


118 


CHAPTER   IX. 


yk'-    ' 


mOOKSK    OF   BALTIMORE — (1828-1829). 

Moatltev.  James  Whitfield,  fonrth  Arohblsbop  of  Baltimore— The  Oblates  of  St  Frances 
and  the  colored  Catholics— The  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  and  the 
Leopoldine  Society— First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  a  retrospect  on  pre- 
Tloiu  synods  of  the  clergy. 

As  soon  as  Archbishop  Mar^chal  felt  the  first  symptoms  of  the 
disease  that  was  to  carry  him  off,  he  applied  to  the  Holy  See  for 
a  coadjutor  to  succeed  him  in  his  important  4>ost.  The  name  of 
Dr.  James  Whitfield  was  the  first  on  the  list  of  persons  which  he 
submitted  to  the  choice  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  by  a  brief  of  the 
8th  of  January,  1828,  Leo  XH.,  acceding  to  the  archbishop's  re- 
quest, appointed  Dr.  Whitfield  coadjutor,  with  the  title  of  Bishop 
of  Apollonia,  in  partibus.  The  brief  did  not  arrive  until  after 
Archbishop  Mar6chal  had  expired,  and  Dr.  Whitfield  was  conse- 
crated Archbishop  of  Baltimore  on  Whitsunday,  the  26th  of 
May,  1828.  The  venerable  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  Monseigneur 
Flaget,  was  the  consecrator,  and  he  was  so  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  his  august  functions,  that  on  Ascension  day  he 
began  a  retreat  with  the  archbishop  elect,  in  order  to  purify  his 
heart,  and  raise  his  soul  to  God,  in  preparation  for  the  great  act 
he  was  about  to  perform.  "  This  Sunday  of  Pentecost  was  the 
most  grand,  the  most  august,  the  most  honorable  day  that  ever 
shone  on  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown."* 

James  Whitfield  was  born  at  Liverpool,  England,  on  the  8d  of 
November,  1110,  and  belonged  to  a  very  respectable  mercantile 
family,  who  gave  him  all  the  advantages  of  a  sound  education. 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,  by  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bishop  of  Louisville,  p.  26i'. 


'/I 


vv 


lU 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


w 


At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  lost  his  father  and  became  the  sole 
protector  of  his  mother. 

In  order  to  dissipate  her  melancholy  he  took  her  to  Italy,  and 
after  spending  some  years  there  in  commercial  affairs,  young 
Whitfield  went  to  France,  in  order  to  pass  over  to  England.  It 
was  just  at  this  moment  that  Napoleon  decreed  that  every  Eng- 
lishman discovered  on  French  soil  should  be  retained  a  prisoner. 
James  Whitfield  spent  most  of  the  period  of  his  exile  at  Lyons, 
and  there  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the  Abb6  Mar^chal,  the 
future  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  then  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the 
seminary  of  St.  Irenaeus,  at  Lyons.  The  young  man's  piety  soon 
disposed  him  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state.  He  entered  the 
seminaiy  under  the  direction  of  his  learned  friend,  and  was  soon 
distinguished  for  his  ardor  as  a  student  and  for  his  solidity  of 
judgment  He  was  ordained  at  Lyons  in  1809,  and  on  his 
mother's  death  returned  to  England,  where  he  was  for  some  time 
appointed  to  the  parish  of  Crosby.  When  the  Abbe  Mar6chal 
was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  he  wrote  to 
his  friend,  begging  him  to  come  and  share  the  cares  (>f  a  diocese 
whose  wants  were  so  great.  Mr.  Whitfield  yielded  to  the  desire 
of  his  old  tutor,  and  he  landed  in  the  United  States  on  the  8th  of 
September,  1817.  He  was  at  first  stationed  at  St.  Peter's  Church, 
Baltimore,  and  then  became  one  of  the  Vicars-general  of  the  dio- 
cese. In  1825,  by  a  special  indult  of  the  Court  of  Rome,  the 
archbishop  solemnly  conferred  on  Mr.  Whitfield  and  two  other 
eminent  clergymen  of  Baltimore  the  grade  of  Doctor  of  Divinity ; 
and  the  ceremony,  full  of  interest  for  Catholics,  was  hailed  by 
them  with  joy  as  the  commencement  of  a  faculty  of  theology  in 
America.  In  the  same  year  Archbishop  Marechal  approved  the 
religious  community  of  the  Sisters  Oblates  of  St.  Frances,  formed 
of  colored  women,  for  the  instruction  of  children  of  the  African 
race.  Dr.  Whitfield  took  a  deep  interest  in  this  foundation,  and 
seconded  the  effort  of  Mr.  Joubert,  a  priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  who. 


*A 
Lazari 

+  Th 
Rome 
holy  yo 
diet,  wi 
IV.,  wl 
the  coi 
canonir 
solemn 
guishet 
order, 
Saohifi 


SSB 


IN  THB  UNITED  STATES. 


115 


seeing  so  many  little  negresses  plunged  in  the  deepest  ignorance, 
assembled  several  excellent  women  of  that  class  to  take  care  of 
these  children.  After  long  trials,  Mr.  Joubert  thought  that  he 
might  ask  the  archbishop  to  permit  them  to  take  vows.  Ap- 
proved on  the  6th  of  June,  1825,  they  were  also  recognized  at 
Rome  by  the  Holy  See  on  the  2d  of  October,  1831,  and  enjoyed 
all  the  privileges  and  indulgences  accorded  to  the  Oblates  at 
Rome.  "  The  Almighty  has  blessed  the  eflForts  of  the  worthy 
Mr.  Joubert,"  wrote  Rev.  Mr.  Odin,  in  1834 ;  "there  are  already 
twelve  of  these  sisters ;  their  school  is  very  numerous,  piety  and 
fervor  reign  among  them,  and  they  render  great  services  to  reli- 
gion."* The  community  now  contains  fourteen  professed  sisters 
and  three  novices ;  they  keep  a  girls'  school,  with  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  scholars,  and  a  boys'  school,  with  fifty .f  This  is 
but  a  small  development,  and  the  good  to  be  done  among  the 
blacks  would  need  a  very  large  community.  But  the  clergy  has 
never  been  able  to  cope  with  the  work  before  them,  and  the  va- 
rious Archbishops  of  Baltimore  have  all  deplored  their  inability 
to  undertake  the  evangelization  of  the  blacks,  as  they  would  de- 
sire. "How  distressing  it  is,"  wrote  Archbishop  Whitfield,  in 
1832,  "  to  be  unable  to  send  missionaries  to  Virginia,  where  there 
are  five  hundred  thousand  negroes  I  It  is  indubitable  that  had 
we  missionaries  and  funds  to  support  them,  prodigies  would  be 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vii.  167.  Letter  of  Mr.  Odin, 
Lazarist,  now  Bishop  of  Galveston. 

+  The  Oblates  of  Rome  were  founded  by  St.  Frances  de  Buxo,  born  at 
Borne  in  1384.  Although  married,  she  assembled  some  pious  widows  and 
holy  young  women  in  community,  in  1488 ;  gave  them  the  rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, with  special  constitutions,  and  solicited  the  approval  of  Fopo  Eugene 
IV.,  which  was  granted.  On  her  husband's  death  in  1436,  Frances  entered 
the  community  which  she  had  organized ;  she  died  there  in  1440,  and  wa.s 
canonized  by  Pope  Paul  V.  ir  1608.  The  Oblates  of  Kome  do  not  take 
solemn  vows.  Their  numb'.i-s  are  generally  filled  up  from  the  most  distin- 
guished classes  oi"  ..^"'Pty,  and  many  princesses  have  been  members  of  the 
order,  while  their  sisters  in  America  are  taken  in  the  humblest  condition. 
Such  is  the  equality  of  the  great  Christian  family  before  God. 


116 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


efTticted  in  this  vast  and  untitled  field.  In  Maryland  blacks  aie 
converted  every  day,  and  many  of  them  are  good  Catholics  and 
excellent  Christians.  At  Baltimore  many  are  frequent  communi- 
cants, and  three  hundred  or  four  hundred  receive  the  Bki^^ed 
Racrament  the  first  Sunday  of  every  month.  It  is  the  same 
throughout  Maryland,  where  there  are  a  great  many  Catholics 
among  the  negroes."*  Some  years  after,  Archbishop  Eccleston, 
auccessor  of  Archbishop  Whitfield,  wrote,  in  1838:  "The  slaves 
present  a  vast  and  rich  harvest  to  the  apostolic  laborer.  I  do  not 
believe  that  there  is  in  this  country,  without  excepting  the  Indians, 
a  class  of  men  among  whom  it  is  possible  to  do  more  good.  Put 
far  from  being  able  to  do  what  I  would  desire  for  the  salvation  of 
the  unhappy  negroes,  I  see  myself  unable  to  meet  the  wauts  of 
the  thousands  of  whites,  who,  equally  deprived  of  the  succors  of 
religion,  feel  most  keenly  their  spiritual  abandonment."! 

This  sad  state  of  things  has  not  ceased  to  exist,  for  the  clergy 
are  still  far  too  few  to  devote  themselves  especially  to  the  con- 
version of  the  blacks.  There  are  many  negro  Catholics  in  Louisi- 
ana, Missouri,  Maryland,  ami  Kew  York,  but  in  general  it  is  the 
fanaticism  of  Wesley  that  is  preached  with  success  to  the  colored 
people,  and  a  part  of  the  slaves  follow  the  superstitious  practices 
of  that  sect,  while  a  large  number  preserve  the  gross  worship  of 
Fetichiam.  We  cannot  but  express  our  wish  that  the  work  of 
the  worthy  Mr.  Joubert  may  obtain  a  wide  extension,  and  that 
the  pious  Oblates,  of  whom  he  is  the  founder,  may  be  propagated 
in  all  directions,  in  order  to  bring  up  the  colored  children  in  the 
truths  of  Christianity  .J 

One  of  the  first  acta  of  Archbishop  Whitfif'  f      /.  '^'-atratioi 
was  the  visitation  of  his  diocese,  which,  in  182b,  comprised  fifty- 

•  /    Aales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  v.  722. 
f  Au'.     8  Je  \a  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  x.  498. 

X  .TjAisc'.  Hector  Jouberfcwas  born  at  St.  Jean  d'Angely,  September  6th, 
1777.    Ii*  HOi  he  went  to  H.  Domingo,  and  thence  to  Baltimore,  where  he 


two  pr 

This  vi 

com  mi 

control 

conside 

church( 

p^edpce 

t-h"  Pre 

I'roai  16 

two   th( 

allotted 

also  ses 

for  the 

Propaga 

to  the  ( 

to  bo  ci 
clergy. 

It  wm 
rable  Asi 
and  for  1 

In  U 
Home  af 
preoccuj 
it  warm 
spoke  es 
formerly 
founding 
ana.    Fc 


arrived  in 
and  was  tl 
spent  the 
tions  to  wl 
college. 


sntBE 


IN   TT  E   UNITED  STATES. 


117 


two  priests  and  from  sixlv  thouf^  md  to  eighty  thousand  Catholics. 
This  visitation  showed  him  the  crying  wants  of  the  vast  district 
committed  to  his  care,  nd  the  i'>  ^le  resources  which  he  <  ould 
control  for  the  advancement  of  religion.  Ui*  private  fortune  was 
considerable,  and  he  now  devote  1  his  whole  incom<^  f o  building 
churches  and  establishing  useful  institutions.  Like  his  venerable 
p^-edf^cessor,  he  invariably  appealed  for  aid  to  tho  Association  for 
A"  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  and  by  the  returns  of  that  body 
iVoui  1825  to  1834,  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  received  thirty- 
two  thousand  francs.  There  was,  moreover,  a  certain  sum 
allotted  for  Mt.  St.  Mary's,  and  Louis  XVIIL  and  Charles  X. 
also  sent,  on  several  occasions,  offerings  to  their  Grand  Almoner 
for  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Still  the  Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith  showed  itself,  ^t  first,  espec  illy  liberal 
to  the  dioceses  of  New  Orleans  and  Bardstown.  Thore  all  was 
to  be  created,  while  Maryland  oflfered  some  resources  to  her 
clergy. 

It  was  to  aid  the  missions  of  the  United  States  that  the  admi- 
rable Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  was  established, 
and  for  this  reason  it  becomes  us  to  chronicle  its  rise. 

In  1816,  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans,  retuminfr  from 
Rome  after  his  consecration,  stopped  a  short  time  at  Lyons,  and 
preoccupied  in  raird  with  the  wants  of  his  diocese,  recommt  nded 
it  warmly  to  the  charity  of  the  people  of  Lyons.  The  prelate 
spoke  especially  on  the  subject  to  a  pious  widow,  whom  he  had 
formerly  known  in  America,  and  imparted  to  her  his  ide  .  of 
founding  a  society  of  alms-givers  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  Louisi- 
ana.   For  several  ensuing  years  the  lady  merely  collected  such 


arrived  in  September,  1804.  He  soon  after  entered  St.  Mary's  Seminarj', 
and  was  the  thirteenth  priest  ordained  in  that  Sulpitian  establishment.  He 
spent  the  remainder  of  bis  life  in  the  Aeminary,  fulfilling  ^th  zeal  the  func- 
tions to  whi^ih  he  was  called,  either  ait  professor  or  as  vice-president  of  th« 
ooUes^. 


118 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


little  aid  as  she  could,  and  sent  it  to  Bishop  Dubourg ;  but  in 
1822,  a  Vicar-general  of  New  Orleans  arrived  at  Lyons  and  gave 
new  life  to  the  charity  of  the  benefactors  of  Louisiana.  They  had 
hitherto  failed  to  aid  suflSciently  one  single  mission,  yet  for  all 
that  they  resolved  to  aid  all  the  m'.ssions  in  the  world,  and  the 
principle  of  Catholicity  infused  into  the  new  work  drew  down 
upon  it  the  blessings  of  Heaven.  On  the  3d  of  May,  1822,  the 
feast  of  the  Finding  of  the  Holy  Cross,  twelve  persons  met  to- 
gether at  Lyons.  The  proceedings  began  by  invoking  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  a  priest  then  made  a  short  recital  of  the  sufferings  of  re- 
ligion in  America,  and  proposed  the  establishment  of  a  vast  asso- 
ciation to  furnish  pecuniary  resources  for  the  missions  of  the  whole 
world. 

The  assembly  •'Unanimously  adopted  this  opinion,  naming  a 
president  and  committee  to  organize  the  association.  The  society 
soon  absorbed  another  modest  association,  established  in  1820, 
among  the  female  silk  operatives,  to  help  the  Christians  in  China. 
The  combined  efforts  had  the  results  which  the  partial  attempts 
had  never  dreamed  of  attaining.  The  receipt  of  the  first  May 
was  five  hundred  and  twenty  francs ;  that  of  the  first  year  rose  to 
fifteen  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-two  francs — over  three 
thousand  dollars. 

The  resources  of  which  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  now  disposes,  enable  it  to  distribute  annually  from 
three  million  to  four  million  of  francs — nearly  a  million  dollars — 
among  the  missions  of  the  five  great  divisions  of  the  world.*  Of 
this  sum  the  amount  allotted  to  the  bishops  of  the  United  States 
varies  from  one  hundred  thousand  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.     From  1822  to  1853,  the  total  of  the  contributions 


*  We  have  drawn  these  statistics  from  the  annual  acccints  of  the  Society, 
made  successively  from  1822  to  1853.  A  writer  in  a  late  number  of  the  Me- 
tropolitan has  recently  done  the  sam3,  and  called  the  attention  of  the  Catho- 
lics of  America  to  this  debt  of  gratitude. 


sent  to  I 
three  th< 
voted  to 
number  ( 
atives'  pe 
sive  voya 
missionai 
Catholics 
numbers 
life  and  < 
in  the  Ui 
obtained 
late  the  z 
readers  fo 
greater,  a 
and  the  ti 
tion,  not  i 
God.    Th 
from  the 
Lazarus,  i 
natives  of 
political  i 
her  for  tl 
"  Jiex  regi 
The  ex£ 
the  Faith 
poldine  Ai 
object  the 
at  Vienna 
by  the  Re^ 
for  the  dio 
name  is  a 
marriage 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


119 


sent  to  missionaries  has  amounted  to  fifty-one  million  and  ninety- 
three  thousand  francs,  about  one  quarter  of  which  has  been  de- 
voted to  the  missions  in  the  United  States.  Who  can  tell  the 
number  of  churches  and  chapels  built  by  this  peasants'  and  oper- 
atives' penny  a  week — ^the  number  of  missionaries  whose  expen- 
sive voyages  it  has  paid — the  number  of  conversions  which  these 
missionaries  have  effected — or,  what  is  better,  the  number  of 
Catholics  saved  from  indifference  and  ultimate  apostasy — the 
numbers  on  numbers  enabled  by  their  ministry  to  live  a  Christian 
life  and  escape  eternal  danmation  ?  The  history  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States  is,  to  some  extent,  the  history  of  the  results 
obtained  by  this  association,  and  our  object  in  writing  is  to  stimu- 
late the  zeal  of  the  associates  and  increase  their  number.  As  our 
readers  follow  our  sketches  they  will  see  that  the  wants  are  daily 
greater,  and  that  the  ties  between  the  young  Church  of  America 
and  the  time-honored  Church  of  France  cry  aloud  for  a  perpetua- 
tion, not  in  a  view  of  earthly  fame,  but  for  the  greater  glory  of 
God.  The  first  martyrs  of  Maine,  New  York,  and  IlUnois  came 
from  the  France  which  holds  the  ashes  of  Mary  Magdalene,  of 
Lazarus,  and  of  Pothinus.  Most,  too,  of  the  first  bishops  were 
natives  of  France  ;  and  after  aiding  the  United  States  to  achieve 
political  independence,  she  has  now  the  higher  glory  of  aiding 
her  for  the  last  thirty  years  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
" Hex  regnantium  et  Dominus  dominantium" 

The  example  given  by  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  has  been  moreover  imitated  in  Germany.  The  Leo- 
poldine  Association,  formed  in  Austria,  has  for  its  sole  and  special 
object  the  support  of  the  American  missions.  It  was  established 
at  Vienna  on  the  15th  of  April,  1829,  at  the  time  of  a  visit  made 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rez6,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Detroit,  to  solicit  aid 
for  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  of  which  he  was  Vicar-general.  Its 
name  is  a  memorial  of  the  Archduchess  Leopoldine,  herself  by 
marriage  an  American  princess,  and  Empress  of  Brazil.     The 


120 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Archduke  Rudolph,  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Olmutz,  and  brother 
of  Francis  II.,  at  once  became  the  protector  of  the  association, 
and  in  inaugurating  it  pronounced  these  memorable  words :  "  It 
behooves  the  Church  of  France,  jealous  of  its  ancient  glories,  to 
march  in  the  fervor  of  its  faith  ever  at  the  head  and  never  behind 
the  other  churches  of  the  world."  And  not  for  France  alone  do 
we  claim  this  glory.  In  the  extension  of  Christianity,  in  the 
propagation  of  truth,  the  Celtic  race  has  ever  led  the  way. 

The  Leopoldine  Association  spread  over  all  the  Austrian  States. 
By  1832  it  had  sent  to  the  United  States  over  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  had  been  distributed  among  the  dioceses  of 
Charleston,  Philadelphia,  Bardstown,  and  St.  Louis.  In  1834  the 
amount  sent  to  America  was  sixteen  thousand  dollars.  Of  the 
subsequent  labors  of  this  charitable  society  we  have  no  statistics, 
but  we  know  that  the  dioceses  in  which  the  German  immigra- 
tion has  centered  receive  abundant  aid  from  this  source.  The 
interest  which  it  has  excited  has  not  been  otherwise  fruitless. 
Future  historians  may  be  at  a  loss  to  explain  how  a  dictionary  of 
the  Chippeway  language,  and  works  in  that  dialect,  came  to  be 
printed  at  Lay  bach,  in  Illyria ;  but  as  scon  as  we  learn  that  when 
the  government  of  the  United  States  refused  to  aid  the  Catholic 
missionary  to  print  these  works,  the  generosity  of  Austria  sup- 
plied the  necessary  funds,  we  can  at  once  explain  the  strange 
fact.* 

The  Catholic  bishops  in  the  United  States  had  long  desired  to 
assemble  in  Council,  in  order  to  adopt  regulations  as  to  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments.  Obsta- 
cles, however,  of  various  kinds  prevented  their  meeting.  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  undertook  to  remove  all  these  difliculties,  and 
with  the  approbation  of  the  Holy  See,  had  the  satisfaction  of  con- 
voking his  colleagues  in  a  Provincial  Council,  the  opening  of 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vi.  179 ;  viii.  247.     Henrion,  Hia- 
toire  G^D^rale  des  Miaslous,  ii.  676,     Bishop  Baraf^H,  Chippewa  Diotloaary. 


which  1 
had  nev 
except  t 
ops  in  1 
1829,  w. 
assembli< 
in  great 
following 
Novembe 
to  the  Se( 
"Wer 
authority 
bishop.     ; 
spirit  of  fj 
as  a  happj 
assembly  c 
lentz,  foun( 
Jng,  Vicar« 
diocese;  ;^ 
brated  con 
this  Synod 
be  the  sam 
for  much  n 
this  will  ev 
The   Fin 
statutes  of 
the  Counci 
tions  of  tha 
vember,  17 
occasion,  aft 
At  the  secoi 


nsH 


mmnjum 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


121 


which  was  fixed  for  the  4th  of  Oct«/ber,  1829.  Till  then  there 
had  never  been  any  regular  conven  \on  of  the  American  clergy, 
except  the  Diocesan  Synod  of  1*791  and  the  meeting  of  the  bish- 
ops in  1810;  and  before  speaking  <'f  the  acts  of  the  Council  of 
1829,  we  will  state  briefly  what  toi>k  place  in  the  two  previous 
assemblies.  The  Synod  of  1791  and  its  decisions  had  remained 
in  great  veneration  among  the  clt-rgy,  as  we  may  judge  by  the 
following  reflections  of  Mr.  Brute  written  by  him  on  the  6th  of 
November,  1831,  while  preparing  the  questions  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Second  Council  of  Baltimore : 

"  We  must  read  over  the  Symd  of  1Y91  for  the  form,  and  its 
authority  will  be  a  good  direc'  on.  In  every  line  you  see  the 
bishop.  In  all  you  see  how  much  he  has  consulted,  and  that  the 
spirit  of  faith,  charity,  and  zeal  has  in  that  first  assembly  served 
as  a  happy  model  for  its  successors.  Could  it  be  otherwise  in  an 
assembly  of  such  priests  under  Archbishop  Carroll !  Messrs.  Pel- 
lentz,  founder  of  Conewago  and  Lancaster ;  Molyneux  and  Flem- 
ing, Vicars  of  the  North  and  South,  as  Pellentz  was  of  the  whole 
diocese ;  Neale,  Plunkett,  Gressel,  Nagot,  Gamier,  etc. ;  the  cele- 
brated convert,  Mr.  Thayer,  etc.  Such  worthy  priests  immortalize 
this  Synod  with  a  blessing  of  union,  grace,  and  zeal,  which  will 
be  the  same  forty  years  after  ad  multos  iterum  annos,  or  rather 
for  much  more  frequent  meetings  of  Diocesan  Synods,  for  which 
this  will  ever  serve  as  a  model."* 

The  First  Council  of  Baltimore  in  1829  decided  that  the 
statutes  of  the  Synod  of  1*791  should  be  printed  with  the  acts  oi 
the  Council,  and  the  bishops  thus  gave  new  vigor  to  the  regula- 
tions of  that  Synod.  In  the  first  session,  held  on  the  Yth  of  No- 
vember, 1791,  the  bishop  delivered  a  discourse  suited  to  the 
occasion,  after  which  the  members  made  a  profession  of  faith. 
At  the  second  session,  held  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  statutes 


;.Tvrr.7*.TJ»^-fl77 


122 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


were  passed  as  to  the  conditional  baptism  of  converts,  on  baptis- 
mal registers,  on  not  confirming  children  before  the  age  of  reason. 
The  third  session,  which  took  place  on  the  8th,  took  up  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist ;  it  treated  of  the  first  communion  of  chil- 
dren, of  decency  in  the  ceremonial,  of  the  ecclesiastical  dress,  of 
collections  and  trustees.  In  the  fourth  session,  on  the  9th  of  No- 
vember, they  considered  the  sacrament  of  Penance ;  reminded  all 
of  the  necessity  of  an  approbation  for  priests,  and  forbid  them  to 
go  to  stay  in  other  places  than  those  where  they  were  stationed. 
This  was  necessary,  as  some  priests,  Germans  especially,  believed 
they  could  dispense  with  episcopal  'nstitution  from  the  new 
bishop,  and  one  remarkable  case  we  shall  have  occasion  to  men- 
tion. The  sacraments  of  Extreme  Unction  and  Matrimony  were 
also  treated  of,  and  mixed  marriages  subjected  to  proper  guaran- 
tees. 

On  the  last  session,  on  the  10th  of  November,  regulations  were 
adopted  as  to  holidays,  manual  labor  being  tolerated  in  certain 
cases  on  holidays  not  falling  on  a  Sunday ;  and  finally,  decrees 
were  made  upon  the  oflSces,  the  life  of  the  clergy,  their  mainte- 
nance and  burial.* 

*  CoDcilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita.  Biiltiiiore,  1851,  page  11.  M^- 
moires  pour  servir  a  I'histoire  eccl^siastique  pendant  le  XVIII.  Si6cle :  Paris, 
1815,  iii.  190. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  priests  who  attended  the  synod  of  1791 ; 
they  deserve  to  be  preserved,  as  having,  with  Archbishop  Carroll,  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States: 

James  Pellentz,  V.  G.  for  the  whole  diocese ;  James  Trambach ;  Robert 
Molyneux,  S.  J.,  Vicar-general  for  the  South  (English);  Francis  Anthony 
Fleming,  S.  J.,  V.  G.  of  the  Northern  district;  Francis  Clnvrles  Nagot, 
President  of  the  Sulpitian  Seminary  (French);  John  Ashton,  S.  J. ;  Henry 
Pile  ;  Leonard  Neale,  S.  J. ;  Charles  Sewall,  S.  J. ;  Sylvester  Boarman,  S.  J. ; 
William  Filing;  James  Vanhutflfel;  Robert  Plunkett;  Stanislaus  Cerfou- 
mont ;  Francis  Beeston ;  Lawrence  Gresael ;  Joseph  Eden ;  Louis  Caasar 
Delavan,  ex-Canon  of  Tours ;  John  Tessier,  Sulpitian  (French) ;  Anthony 
Gamier,  Sulpitian  (Frenoh). 

These  twenty  priests  were  the  only  ones  present  at  the  first  meetings. 
The  following  were  present  also  on  the  10th  of  November: 

John  Bolton,  S.  J.,  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  ;  John  Thayer,  pastor  of  Boston. 


Whe 

town  m 

they  ha 

together 

summar 

I.  Poi 

the  bi8h< 

sans  to  t 

vocation. 

II.  Th. 
of  the  He 

III.  Th 

which  pre 

of  the  sa( 

hrated  ent 

of  the  praj 

IV.  The 
be  pronoui 

V.  Thej 
public  and 
and  stage 
weaken  fait 

VI.  Thei 
ments,  unle 
openly  proc 
It  had  be 
cial  Counci 
condition  an 
lowing  preai 
"It  appes 
that  the  ho 

*  Concilia  Pj 
P'lge  85. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


123 


When  the  bishops  elect  of  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Bards- 
town  met  at  Baltimore  in  1810  to  receive  episcopal  consecration, 
they  had  some  conferences  with  Archbishop  Carroll,  to  regulate 
together  important  points  of  discipline,  and  the  following  is  a 
summary  of  the  articles  then  adopted : 

I.  Poor  as  they  may  be  in  subjects  for  the  ecclesiastical  state, 
the  bishops  declare  that  they  will  cheerfully  permit  their  dioce- 
sans to  enter  any  regular  or  secular  order  for  which  they  feel  a 
vocation. 

II.  The  bishops  forbid  the  use  in  prayer-books  of  any  version 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  except  that  of  the  Douay  Bible. 

III.  They  permit  the  reciting  in  the  vernacular  of  the  prayers 
which  precede  or  follow  the  essential  form  of  the  administration 
of  the  sacraments,  except  the  Mass,  which  must  always  be  cele- 
brated entirely  in  Latin;  but  they  forbid  the  use  of  any  translation 
of  the  prayers  not  approved  by  all  the  bishops  in  the  province. 

IV.  The  bishops  do  not  permit  perpetual  vows  of  chastity  to 
be  pronounced  out  of  regular  religious  associations. 

V.  They  exhort  all  pastors  of  souls  to  combat  constantly,  in 
public  and  in  private,  amusements  dangerous  to  morals,  as  balls 
and  stage  plays,  and  forbid  the  reading  of  books  which  may 
weaken  faith  or  corrupt  virtue,  especially  novels. 

VI.  They  forbid  priests  to  admit  Free  Masons  to  the  sacra- 
ments, unless  they  promise  to  stop  attending  the  lodges,  and 
openly  proclaim  their  renunciation  of  the  society.* 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  bishops  to  meet  in  a  Provin- 
cial Council,  as  soon  as  they  should  become  well  aware  of  the 
condition  and  wants  of  their  several  dioceses,  as  we  see  by  the  fol- 
lowing preamble  to  their  articles  of  the  15th  of  November,  1810: 

"  It  appears  to  the  archbishops  and  bishops  now  assembled, 
that  the  holding  of  a  Provincial  Council  will  be  more  advan- 


*  Concilia  Provincialia  Biiltimori  habita,  p.  25.     Life  of  Bishop  Cheverns, 
jiage  85. 


124 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


tageous  at  a  future  period,  when  the  situation  and  wants  of  the 
difterent  dioceses  will  be  more  exactly  known.  This  Provincial 
Council  will  be  held,  at  farthest,  within  two  years  from  the  1st  of 
November,  1810;  and  in  the  mean  time  the  archbishop  and 
bishops  will  now  consider  together  such  matters  as  appear  to 
them  most  urgent ;  and  they  recommend  a  uniform  practice  in 
regard  to  their  decisions,  until  the  holding  of  the  said  Provincial 
Council."*         ^.  vi,'^ 

These  projects  could  not  be  realized;  and,  as  we  have  said,  it 
was  only  in  1829  that  Archbishop  Whitfield  convoked  the  bij^h- 
ops  of  the  United  States  in  a  Provincial  Council  at  Baltimore. 
The  prelates  who  met  at  the  call  of  their  Metropolitan  were : 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  Bishop  of  Bardstown. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  Bishop  of  Charleston  and  Vicar-general 
of  Florida  East.         ^  *-'  ;^ 

Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  and  Administrator 
of  New  Orleans.  • 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Four  prelates  were  unable  to  come,  viz. :  Rt.  Rev.  John  Dubois, 
Bishop  of  New  York,  who  had  embarked  for  Europe  a  month 
before  ;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Coadjutor  of  Bardstown, 
the  proxy  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  prevented  from  attending 
by  sickness.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Mobile, 
was  also  in  France ;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  being  now  ; 
merely  titular  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  was  represented  by  the 
Rev.  William  Mathews,  the  Administrator  of  that  diocese.f 

The  opening  of  the  Council  took  place  on  Sunday,  the  4th  of 
October,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore.     Archbishop  Whitfield 

•  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget  by  Bishop  Spalding,  p.  66. 

t  Joseph  Rosati,  born  at  Sora  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  January  80th, 
J789,  entered  the  Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission  or  Lazarists  at 
ftn  eftfly  pge,  and  in  1815  joined  Bishop  Dnbourg  nt  Rome,  to  follow  him  to 


cfelehn 

ceptioi 

get,  th 

at  whi 

of  Ph 

memb< 

Counci 

24th  tJ 

decreet 

gregati 

present 

of  Sep 

Americ 

instruc 

munica 

on  the 

and  we 

I.  T 


America 
1824,  fir 
W  Benei 
Bishop 

John 
1826;  d 

John 
and  Cot 

Mich( 
1817. 
Bishop 

Henr 
Philade 

Ofth 
biograp 

»Thi 

Eev. 

Rev. 

Fathi 

Sev. 


OS.,.-  -■■■■ 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


125 


(^lubrated  a  solemn  Mass,  and  having  fixed  that  day  for  the  re- 
ception of  his  palhum,  it  was  imposed  upon  him  by  Bishop  Fla- 
get,  the  senior  prelate.  Every  day  a  morning  session  was  held, 
at  which  the  bishops  alone  were  present,  with  the  Administrator 
of  Philadelphia;  and  an  afternoon  congregation,  which  the 
members  of  the  second  order  also  attended.^  The  closing  of  the 
Council  took  place  on  Sunday,  the  18th  of  October,  and  on  the 
24th  the  prelates  signed  a  letter  by  which  they  submitted  their 
decrees  to  Pope  Pius  VIII.  The  decrees,  approved  by  the  Con- 
gregation "de  propaganda  fide"  on  the  28th  of  June,  1830,  were 
presented  to  the  Holy  Father,  who  confirmed  them  on  the  26th 
of  September.  They  were  transmitted  by  the  Congregation  to 
America  on  the  16th  of  October,  with  some  remarks  "permodum 
instructionis  insinuanda"  and  these  remarks  having  been  com- 
municated to  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  the  decrees  were  printed 
on  the  30th  of  June,  1831.  They  are  thirty-eight  in  number, 
and  we  subjoin  a  summary  of  the  most  important : 

I.  The  bishops  have  the  right  of  sending  to  any  part  of  their 

America.  In  1824,  Bishop  of  Tenagra  and  Qoadjutor  of  New  Orleans.  In 
1824,  first  Bishop  of  St.  Lonid.    Died  at  Borne,  September  15,  1848. 

Benedict  Joseph  Fenwick,  born  at  Leonardtown,  Maryland,  Sept.  8,  1782. 
Bishop  of  Boston  in  1825 ;  died  Aug.  11,  1846. 

John  Dubois,  born  at  Paris,  August  24,  1764.  Bishop  of  New  York  in 
1826  ;  died  at  New  York  in  1842. 

John  Baptist  David,  born  near  Nantes  in  1760.  Bishop  of  Mauricastro 
and  Coadjutor  of  Bardstown  in  1819 ;  died  Jane  12,  1841. 

Michael  Portier,  born  at  Montbuson,  Sept.  7,  1795,  came  to  America  in 
1817.  Bishop  of  Oleno  and  Vicar-apostolic  of  Alabama  and  Florida  in  1826. 
Bishop  of  Mobile  since  1829. 

Henry  Conwell,  born  in  Ireland.  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  in  1820  ;  died  at 
Philadelphia,  April  21,  1842. 

Of  the  other  prelates  present  at  the  Council,  we  have  already  given  short 
biographical  notices. 

*  The  ecclesiastics  present  were  : 

Eev.  John  Tessier,  Sulpitian,  V.  G.  of  Baltimore ;  died  in  1840. 

Rev.  John  Power,  V.  G.  of  New  York;  died  in  1849. 

Father  Dziero^ynski,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits;  died  in  1850. 

Eev.  Mr.  Carriere,  Visitor  of  St.  Sulpice. 


126 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


fi- 


v^ 


i 


diocese,  or  recalling  any  priest  ordained  or  incorporated  within  it. 
This  does  not  extend  to  the  See  of  New  Orleans,  which  is  alone 
regarded  as  having  the  rank  and  privileges  of  benefices  in  the 
United  States.  ...-.>.,,..-       ... 

II.  Priests  ordained  in  a  diocese  or  incorporated  into  it  are  not 
to  leave  without  license  of  the  bishop.  ........ 

III.  Bishops  are  exhorted  not  to  grant  faculties  to  strange 
priests,  unless  they  bring  testimonials  from  their  own  bishops. 
This  provision,  however,  does  not  apply  to  apostolical  missionaries. 

V.  As  lay  trustees  have  often  abused  the  powers  conferred  upon 
them  by  the  civil  law,  the  Council  expresses  the  desire  that  bish- 
ops should  not  consent  to  the  erection  or  Consecration  of  a  church, 
unless  a  deed  of  the  property  be  duly  executed  to  them. 

VI.  Some  laymen,  and  especially  trustees,  having  assumed  a 
right  of  patronage,  and  even  of  inirtitution,  in  some  churches,  the 
Council  declares  these  pretensions  unfounded,  and  forbids  their 
exercise  on  any  grounds  whatever. 

IX.  The  Council  exhorts  the  bishops  to  dissuade  their  flocks 
from  reading  Protestant  translations  of  the  Bible,  and  recommend 
the  use  of  the  Douay  version. 

XI.  It  is  forbidden  to  admit  as  sponsors,  heretics,  scandalous 
sinners,  infamous  men ;  lastly,  those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  ru- 
diments of  faith. 

XVI.  A  question  having  grown  up,  from  the  difficulty  of  the 
times,  of  conferring  baptism  in  private  houses,  the  Council  does 
not  wish  to  suppress  it  absolutely,  but  nevertheless  exhorts  priests 
to  administer  the  sacrament  in  the  church  as  much  as  possible. 

XXVI.  The  pastors  of  souls  are  warned  that  it  behooves  them 
to  prepare  the  faithful  well  for  the  sacrament  of  matrimony ;  and 
that  they  should  not  consider  themselves  exempt  from  sin,  if  they 
have  tjie  temerity  to  administer  the  sacrament  to  persons  mani- 
festly unworthy. 

XXXIV.  As  many  young  Catholics,  especially  those  bom  of 


IN  fHE   UNITED  STATES. 


127 


poor  parents,  are  exposed  to  the  danger  of  losing  fa.  ^  and  mo* 
rality,  from  the  want  of  teachers  to  whom  their  education  may 
be  safely  confided,  the  Council  expresses  the  wish  that  schoob 
should  be  established,  where  youth  may  imbibe  principles  of  faith 
and  morality  along  with  human  knowledge.  ..   . ,  .':     ^ 

XXXVI.  According  to  the  wise  counsel  of  Pope  Leo  XII., 
addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  a  society  shall  be 
established  for  the  diffusion  of  good  books. 

The  Holy  See  also  granted  to  priests  in  the  United  States 
faculty  to  administer  baptism  with  water  not  blessed,  on  Holy 
Saturday  or  Whitsun-eve,  and  to  administer  it  to  adults  with  the 
same  form  as  to  children.  Priests  were  authorized  to  use,  in 
blessing  water,  the  short  form  employed  by  Peruvian  missionaries, 
with  the  approbation  of  Pope  Paul  III.,  as  given  in  the  Ritual  of 
Lima.  Rome  finally  permits  the  Paschal  season  in  the  United 
States  to  extend  from  the  first  Sunday  of  Lent  to  Trinity  Sunday 
inclusively.* 

To  meet  the  views  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  bishops  formed  an 
association  to  publish  elementary  books  suited  to  Catholic  schools, 
and  free  from  all  that  can  give  the  young  false  ideas  as  to  reli- 
gion. This  Metropolitan  press  continued  its  issues  for  several 
years,  till  the  spirit  of  enterprise  among  Catholic  booksellers  led 
them  to  publish  devotional  and  other  works  so  cheap  that  the 
object  of  the  bishops  was  attained.  The  prelates  also  favored  the 
establishment  of  Catholic  journals,  and  the  Catholics  in  the 
United  States  soon  counted  five  weekly  organs — the  "  Metropoli- 
tan" at  Baltimore,  the  "Jesuit"  at  Boston,  the  "Catholic"  at 
Hartford,  the  "  Miscellany"  at  Charleston,  and  the  "Truth  Teller.** 

Among  the  subjects  on  which  the  meeting  of  the  bishops  threw 
great  light,  was  the  Catholic  population  of  the  vast  territory  of 
the  republic.    By  comparing  their  calculations,  and  rectifying 


♦  Cono.  Prov.  Bait.,  p.  29.     Annalea  de  liv  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  Iv.  226 ; 
V.  711. 

5 


128 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


\ 


one  by  another,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  concluded  that  the 
number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States,  in  1829,  was  over  five 
hundred  thousand,  and  daily  on  the  increase,  by  immigration  or 
conversion.  These  developments  afforded  the  Episcopate  un- 
speakable consolation  in  their  labors,  as  we  may  judge  by  this 
letter  of  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  the  Council  of  the  Association 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  dated  February  16th,  1832  : 

"The  wonders,  if  I  dare  so  express  myself,  that  have  been 
operated,  and  are  daily  operated  in  my  diocese,  are  a  source  of 
consolation  to  me,  amid  the  difficulties  against  which  I  have 
still  often  to  struggle.  Thanks  to  a  special  providence  over  that 
beloved  portion  of  the  people  confided  to  my  care,  I  can  sny  with 
the  apostle,  '  I  am  filled  with  consolation ;  I  superabound  ^vith  joy 
in  all  our  tribulation.^  When  I  meditate  before  God  on  his  good- 
ness, his  mercy,  the  graces  which  He  bestows  on  my  diocese,  my 
heart  expands,  my  bowels  are  moved,  and  I  cannot  but  recall  that 
passage  of  the  Psalms :  '  He  hath  not  done  thus  to  every  nation.' 
A  truly  Catholic  spirit  distinguishes  Maryland  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  from  all  other  States  in  the  Unio.-} ;  and  I  venture  to 
say,  without  any  fear  of  wounding  the  truth,  the  city  of  Baltimore 
is  justly  renowned  for  the  true  and  solid  piety  of  its  people.  Con- 
versions of  Protestants  in  health  are  also  numerous,  and  not  .i 
week,  in  some  seasons  not  a  day  passes  without  our  priests  being 
called  to  the  bedside  of  some  invalid,  who  wiibes  to  abjure  error 
and  die  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church."* 

Thus  were  realized  the  hopes  of  the  Holy  See,  in  organizing 
the  Episcopate  of  the  United  States. 


*  Anoales  de  la  Propagation  do  la  Foi,  v.  711. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATUS. 


CHAPTER   X. 


DI00K8K    OF   BALTIMORE — (1829-1884). 


Second  Provincial  Coanoil— Decrees  u  to  the  election  of  bishops— Decrees  for  confiding 
to  the  Jesuits  ttie  Negroes  and  Indians— The  colony  of  Liberia  and  Bishop  Barron — 
The  Carmelites— Liberality  of  Archbishop  Whitfield- His  character  and  death. 

The  years  which  followed  the  meeting  of  the  first  Provincial 
Council  of  Baltimore  brought  various  changes  in  the  Episcopate 
of  the  United  States.  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans  had  left 
Louisiana  in  June,  1826,  to  assume  the  direction  of  the  diocese 
of  Montauban  in  France,  and  New  Orleans  had  for  several  yearis 
been  administered  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis.  The  vacancy  of 
the  See  was  filled  by  the  Pontifical  rescript  of  August  4,  1829, 
appointing  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leo  De  Neckere,  a  Belgian  priest  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Missions,  Bishop  of  New  Orleans.  He  was 
consecrated  by  Bishop  Rosati  on  the  24th  of  June,  1830,  and 
began  his  episcopate.  At  Cincinnati,  Bishop  Edward  Fenwick, 
having  fallen  a  victim  to  the  cholera  in  1832,  had  been  replaced 
by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell,  consecrated  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1833.  At  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  William  Mathews,  appointed 
Administrator  of  the  diocese  by  a  Pontifical  brief  dated  February 
26,  1828,  having  refused  the  post  of  Coadjutor,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Patrick  Kenrick  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Arath  and  Coadjutor  of 
Philadelphia,  cum  plena  potestate  ad  regendam  dioccesim,  and  was 
consecrated  on  the  6th  of  June,  1830.  Lastly,  the  Holy  See  had 
formed  a  special  diocese  of  Michigan  and  Northwest  Territory, 
which  comprised  what  is  now  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  and  named 
the  Rev.  Frederick  R6s6  Bishop  of  Detroit.    The  new  prelate 

6* 


180 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


was  consecrated  on  the  6th  of  October,  1833,  at  Cincinnati,  by 
Bishop  Brut6. 

The  papers  of  Bishop  Brut6  contain  a  page  written  at  the  mo- 
ment when  this  second  Council  was  assembling,  and  which 
throws  considerable  light  on  this  important  question.  According 
to  the  future  Bishop  of  Vincennes : 

"The  principal  point  to  examine  in  the  second  Provincial 
Council  is  the  mode  to  be  established  for  electing  bishops.  Till 
now  they  have  been  chosen  in  one  of  the  five  following  ways : 

"  1st.  Proptno  motu.  Some  one,  without  authority  or  war- 
rant, suggests  a  subject  to  the  Holy  See.  In  this  way  Bishops 
Concanen,  Connolly,  Conwell,  Kelly,  and  England  were  appointed. 

"  2d.  The  archbishop  and  his  suffragans  agree  upon  a  person, 
and  such  was  the  presentation  of  Bishop  David  as  Coadjutor  of 
Bardstown. 

"  3d.  Others  have  been  appointed  on  the  presentation  of  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  who  desired  a  coadjutor ;  and  in  this  way 
Mr.  Blanc  was  named  to  the  See  of  New  Orleans,  which  he  has 
refused,  and  Mr.  Chabrat  is  now  for  Kentucky.* 

"  4th.  Some  have  been  presented  by  bishops  of  other  dioceses, 
without  the  participation  of  the  archbishop.  Thus  Bishop  Pur- 
cell  was  appointed  at  the  instance  of  Bishop  England ;  Bishop 
Kenrick  had  written  to  Kome  in  favor  of  Rev.  John  Hughes,  and 
the  archbishop  in  favor  of  Father  DubuiiSson.f 


*  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc  received  in  1882  the  bulls  of  Bishop  of  ApoUouia 
and  Coadjutor  of  New  Orleans  ;  but  he  made  it  a  condition  that  Bishop  De 
Neckere  should  abandon  his  project  of  resigning.  That  prelate  having 
per»isted  in  handing  in  his  demission,  Mr.  Blanc  sent  back  the  bulls. 
Bishop  De  Neckere  having  died  on  the  4th  of  September,  1883,  Rev.  Au- 
gustus Joanjean,  V.  6.,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  ;  but  he  re- 
fused. In  October,  1886,  the  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc  received  the  bulls  naming 
him  bishop  instead  of  Bishop  De  Neckere,  and  he  accepted. 

t  Father  Stephen  Larlgaudelle-Dubuisson,  born  at  Si.  Domingo,  October 
21,  1786,  spent  his  early  youth  at  Nantes,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  an- 
gelic piety,  at  a  period  when  an  almost  heroic  courage  was  needed  to  practice 


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IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


131 


**  8th.  Laatly,  for  the  first  nomin£»tion,  that  of  Bishop  Carroll, 
the  Popo  (panted  the  clergy  the  privilege  of  electing  the  bishop, 
but  only  for  that  occasion,  reserving  in  future  the  nomination  to 
the  Pr(>|,aganda. 

"  Rome  asks  the  present  Council  to  lay  its  wishes  before  the 
Pope  for  his  approbation,  as  to  a  regular  mode  of  election  to  be 
observed  in  future.  The  Propaganda  has  stated  that  they  will 
not  object  to  grant  America  election  as  in  Ireland.'' 

The  prelates  who  corresponded  to  the  call  of  Archbishop  Whit- 
field, and  convened  with  their  Metropolitan  on  the  20th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1833,  were: 

Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Bishop  of  Mauricastro  and  Coadjutor 
of  Bardstown. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  Bishop  of  Charleston. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis. 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Dubois,  Bishop  of  New  York.  ;  . 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Mobile.  '"* 

Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Arath,  Coadjutor  and 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia. 

Rt.  Rev.  Frederick  R686,  Bishop  of  Detroit. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati.  -  '■' 

The  two  last-named  prelates  had  received  episcopal  consecra- 
tion only  a  few  days  before  the  opening  of  the  Council.  Bishop 
Flaget,  of  Bardstown,  had  been  prevented  by  age  from  coming  to 


Christian  daties  openly.  He  was  engaged  in  the  war  ofSce,  followed  the 
army  to  Germany,  and  in  1814  was  secretary  of  the  treasury  of  the  civil  list. 
At  this  time  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  becoming  a  priest, 
came  to  Maryland,  and  subsequently  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus.  While 
assistant  pastor  of  Washington,  he  was  confessor  of  Mrs.  Mattingly,  and  at- 
tended her  on  the  10th  of  March,  1824,  when  she  was  so  miraculously  re- 
stored to  health.  In  1840  health  obliged  him  to  leave  America,  and  he  is 
now  attached  to  the  province  of  Toulouse. 


132 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Baltimore,  and  Bishop  De  Neckere,  of  New  Orleans,  had  died  the 
preceding  month.* 

The  closing  of  the  Council  took  place  on  the  2'7th  of  October, 
and  by  the  first  decree  the  Fathers  solicited  of  the  Holy  Father 
the  erection  of  a  new  See  at  Yincennes  for  Indiana  and  a  part  of 
Illinois. 


*  The  following  are  the  members  of  the  second  order  present  at  the 
Council : 

Rev.  Louis  Re^ris  Deloul,  V.  G.  of  Baltimore,  Promoter. 

Rev.  Louis  £.  Damphoux,  Secretary. 

Rev.  John  Hoskyns,  Sec.  Died  January  11,  1887,  aged  twenty-nine. 
Vice-president  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore. 

Rev.  John  Joseph  Chanche,  Master  of  Ceremonies.  Died  in  1852;  Bishop 
of  Natchez. 

Rev.  John  Randaime,  Rev.  Peter  Fredet,  Chanters;  both  Sulpitians,  and 
Professors  in  St.  Charles'  College  ;  the  latter  died  in  185S. 

00NSaLTIN<»  THEOLOGIANS. 

Rev.  Father  William  McSherry,  Provincial  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Ma- 
ryland.   Died  December  17,  1839. 

Rev.  Father  Nicholas  D.  Young,  Provincial  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic ; 
now  at  St.  Joseph's,  Cincinnati. 

Rev.  John  Tessier,  V.  G.,  Baltimore. 

Theologian  of  the  Archbishop  of  BaUimore — Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston.  Died 
in  1851 ;  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans — Rev.  Augustus  Jcanjean.  Died 
at  New  Orleans,  April  11th,  1841,  aged  forty-six;  V.  G.  of  the  diocese. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Mauricastro — Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Charleston — Rev.  Andrew  Byrne ;  now  Bishop 
of  Little  Rock. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis — Rev.  John  Odin ;  now  Bishop  of 
Galveston. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Boston — Rev.  John  J.  Cbanche. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York — Rev.  John  Power.  Died  April 
14,  1849 :  Vicar-general,  New  York. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Mobile— Fev.  Peter  Mauvernay.  Died  Octo- 
ber 28,  1889 ;  President  of  Spring  Hill  College. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Arath— Rev.  John  Hughes;  now  Archbishop 
of  New  York. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Detroit — Rev.  William  Mathews.  Died  in 
1854. 

Theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati — Rev.  Simon  Brute.  Consecrated, 
().t<.Vv<?r  ;?8.  B34,  Binhop  of  Vincenncs.     Died  in  1889. 


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IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


133 


By  the  third  decree,  the  Council  set  forth  the  fixed  limits 
which  it  judged  proper  to  give  each  diocese. 

By  the  fourth  decree,  the  Council  submits  to  the  Holy  See  the 
following  mode  of  electing  the  bishops : 

"  When  a  See  falls  vacant,  the  suflfrages  of  the  other  bishops  in 
the  province  are  to  be  taken,  in  order  to  determine  the  priests  who 
shall  be  proposed  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  for  that  See.  If  a 
Provincial  Council  is  to  meet  within  three  months  after  the  pre- 
late's death,  the  bishops  are  to  wait  till  then  to  select  the  persons 
to  be  proposed.  Bishops  desiring  a  coadjutor  shall  also  submit 
to  the  vote  of  their  colleagues  in  council  assembled,  the  names  of 
the  clergymen  proposed  for  the  post  of  coadjutor. 

"  As  the  holding  of  a  Provincial  Council  may  be  remote,  every 
bishop  shall  keep  two  sealed  packages,  containing  the  names  of 
at  least  three  priests  who  seem  to  him  worthy  to  succeed  him. 
On  the  death  of  the  prelate,  the  Vicar-general  shall  transmit  one 
of  these  to  the  archbishop,  the  other  to  the  nearest  bishop.  The 
latter,  after  taking  note  of  the  names  given  by  the  late  prelate, 
shall  transmit  it  with  his  observations  to  the  archbishop.  The 
metropolitan  then  writes  to  all  his  suffragans,  submitting  to  their 
examination  the  three  names  given  by  the  late  prelate,  or  three 
others,  if  he  finds  serious  objections  to  the  former;  and  then 
every  bishop  writes  individually  to  the  Propaganda,  giving  his 
observations  on  the  three  or  on  the  six  proposed.  On  the  death 
of  the  metropolitan,  the  dean  of  the  suffragans  shall  discharge  the 
duties  which,  in  other  circumstances,  devolve  on  the  archbishop. 
If  the  deceased  prelate  leave  among  his  papers  no  nomination  of 
a  successor,  the  nearest  bishop  suggests  three  names  to  the  arch- 
bishop, and  the  latter  submits  them  to  his  suffragans,  with  three 
other  names,  if  the  former  do  not  meet  his  confidence." 

On  the  l7th  of  May,  1834,  the  Congregation  wrote  to  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield,  transmitting  the  apostolic  brief  which  erected 
the  See  of  Vinconnes,  and  appointed  to  it  the  Rev.  Simon  Brut6. 


134 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


By  a  decree  of  June  14th,  1834,  the  Propaganda  approved  the 
mode  proposed  for  nominating  bishops,  reserving  to  the  Holy  See 
the  right  and  hberty  of  choosing  any  other  than  those  thus  pro- 
posed by  the  bishops  of  the  United  States.  Lastly,  Pope  Gregory 
XVL,  by  his  bull  of  June  17,  1834,  fixed  the  limits  of  the  dio- 
ceses according  to  the  decree  of  the  second  Council  of  Baltimore. 

In  its  fifth  decree  the  Council  had  asked  of  the  Holy  See  that 
the  Indian  tribes  dwelling  beyond  the  limits  of  the  fixed  dioceses 
of  the  United  States  should  be  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

The  Propaganda  solemnly  approved  the  decree,  and  this  hom- 
age rendered  to  the  Jesuits  by  the  American  hierarchy  is  a  new 
title  of  glory  for  the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius.  As  early  as  1823, 
Bishop  Dabourg,  of  New  Orleans,  wishing  to  revive  the  faith 
among  the  Indians  scattered  over  the  vast  extent  of  his  diocese, 
applied  to  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland,  begging  them  to  found  a 
mission  in  Missouri.  The  Fathers  could  not  answer  the  call. 
Seven  young  Belgians,  who  were  in  the  Maryland  novitiate, 
however,  set  out,  under  the  direction  of  Fathers  Van  Quicken- 
borne  and  Timmeimann,  and  began  an  establishment  in  Florissant 
in  June,  1824.  Thence  the  Jesuits  visited  the  tribes  in  various 
parts,  announcing  the  Gospel  to  all.  After  the  action  of  the 
Council,  a  greater  development  was  given  to  this  apostolic  field. 
In  1834  missions  were  begun  in  the  district  called  the  Indian 
Territory,  west  of  Missouri,  and  in  1840,  Father  Peter  J.  De  Smet 
set  out  for  Oregon,  where  he  soon  founded  a  flourishing  mission.* 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council  also  recommended  to  the  Holy  See, 
by  their  sixth  decree,  the  negroes  who  emigrate  from  the  United 
States  to  the  African  colony  of  Liberia,  and  solicit  the  Propa- 
ganda to  found  in  behalf  of  these  blacks  on  the  coast  of  Africa  a 
mission  to  be  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Jesuits.     This  solicitude 

*  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  Unitod 
States,  by  John  G.  Shea.    New  York,  1856, 


b 


of  the  A 
leaving  i 
sketch  o 
In  17) 
«end  to 
America] 
British  a 
troops  at 
The  id 
blacks  to 
torn,  and 
tional  con 
cipation  is 
might  con 
with  profil 
idea  sprea< 
erful  colon 
to  transpoi 
a  country  i 
Monrovia  \ 
they  hopec 
mencemen 
and  in  183 
Maryland, 
national  so 
project  in 
all  that  coi 
their  delibe 
Palmas,  bet 
degrees  sou 
We  have 

*  A  History 
Alexander. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STA'TES. 


135 


of  the  American  Church  for  the  salvation  of  the  blacks,  even  after 
leaving  the  soil  of  the  United  States,  induces  us  to  give  a  brief 
sketch  of  the  colony  of  Liberia. 

In  1787  a  philanthropical  society  was  formed  at  London,  to 
send  to  Sierra  Leone  the  negroes  who,  during  *the  war  of  the 
American  Revolution,  h.id  sought  refuge  in  the  ranks  of  the 
British  army,  and  had  returned  to  Great  Britain  with  the  other 
troops  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  idea  of  the  London  philanthropists  was  to  restore  these 
blacks  to  the  African  continent  from  whi  h  their  fathers  had  been 
torn,  and  it  was  believed  that  there  alone,  free  from  the  tradi- 
tional contempt  attached  to  their  color,  and  from  which  no  eman- 
cipation is  complete  enough  to  free  them,  the  civilized  negroes 
might  constitute  by  themselves  an  independent  society,  and  labor 
with  profit  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  on  the  coast.  This  generous 
idea  spread  to  America,  and  on  the  Ist  of  January,  1817,  a  pow- 
erful colonization  society  was  organized  at  Washington,  intended 
to  transport  free  negroes  to  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  there  create 
a  country  for  them.  The  first  emigration  took  place  in  1819,  and 
Monrovia  was  founded  at  Cape  Mesurado,  the  whole  country  which 
they  hoped  to  colonize  receiving  the  name  of  Liberia.  The  com- 
mencement was  diflBcult,  as  happens  in  every  effort  of  the  kind, 
and  in  1833  an  independent  colonization  society  was  formed  in 
Maryland,  resolved  to  form  a  settlement  distinct  from  that  of  the 
national  society.  All  minds  at  Baltimore  were  occupied  with  this 
project  in  1833,  when  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  interested  in 
all  that  concerns  the  great  human  family,  made  it  the  object  of 
their  deliberations.  The  Maryland  colony  was  founded  at  Cape 
Palmas,  between  latitude  four  degrees  and  five  degrees  north,  two 
degrees  south  of  Cape  Mesurado.* 

We  have  always  wished  success  to  the  interesting  establish- 

*  A  History  of  Colonization  on  the  Western  Coh^t  of  Africa,  by  Arcliibald 
Alexander.    Philadelphia,  1846. 


'it 


136 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


meDt  on  the  coast  of  Liberia — success  less  sure  now  than  ever. 
If  we  have  little  sympathy  with  the  dreamers  who  from  to-day  to 
to-morrow  create,  with  the  stroke  of  a  pen,  civil  and  political 
rights  for  whole  populations  of  slaves ;  if  we  do  not  believe  in  the 
instantaneous  jllitiation  of  the  ignorant  and  brutalized  negro, 
whom  they  would  make  an  elector  before  making  him  a  Chris- 
tian, we  can  appreciate  the  high  and  charitable  views  of  those 
Americans  who,  seeing  their  cities  full  of  free  blacks,  vegetating 
in  misery,  seek  to  persuade  these  poor  people  to  return  to  Africa, 
whence  their  fathers  came.  There  the  negroes  receive  lands, 
provisions,  fanning  implements.  Their  passage  and  that  of  their 
families  is  paid,  and  to  colored  men  of  intelligence  and  education 
a  fair  field  lies  open  to  take  part  in  a  government  already  or- 
ganized, to  labor  in  extinguishing  the  slave-trade  and  regenerating 
the  neighboring  tribes,  and  indeed  all  Africa.* 

Unfortunately  the  various  colonization  societies  formed  to  peo- 
ple the  African  coast  are  animated  by  sectarianism,  and  this  has 
frequently  made  all  their  sacrifices  sterile  of  result.  The  Method- 
ists and  Baptists  expend  large  sums  in  maintaining  missionaries 
In  Liberia,  but  the  rivalry  of  these  gentlemen,  more  in  the  field  of 
commerce  than  in  that  of  theology,  destroys  the  material  good 
which  their  concurrence  might  afibrd  the  blacks.  Unfortunately, 
too,  the  climate  devours  the  immigrants,  and  of  the  five  thousand 
negroes  sent  at  great  expense  from  Maryland  to  Cape  Palmas, 
only  seven  hundred  survived  in  1842,  lingering  on  a  burning 
coast,  and  undermined  by  a  terrible  fever,  which  attacks  even  do- 
mestic animals. 

The  attention  of  the  Holy  Father  is  never  called  in  vain  to  any 
part  of  Christendom,  and  the  African  race  has  no  smaller  share 
in  the  solicitude  of  the  Church  than  the  red-man  of  the  American 
forest.    The  Propaganda  approved  the  decree  of  the  second 

*  MesBa^e  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  1844-5. 


Council  of  B 

however,  tha 

take  that  m 

bishops  of  PI 

appoint  a  mii 

ered  that  as  i 

and  as  some 

the  priests  a] 

be  from  the  s 

Rev.  Edward 

selves  to  the 

panied  by  a  j 

Baltimore  on 

whence  they 

ruary,  1842, 

the  first  tim( 

have  been'  pn 

tuiy.f 

The  two  r 
preters,  to  pn 
was  soon  indt 
stay  in  Liberi 
thence  to  Ii'eL 
his  mission,  ai 
•  he  needed.  . 
with  the  title 
seven  priests  ( 

*  Dennis  Pind 
maa,  January  1, 
two  years  the  mi 
Bishop  Barron  a 
attacked  them  oi 

t  In  1604,  th( 
Sierra  Leone,  an 


><  J 


IN  THE  UinTBD  STATES. 


137 


Council  of  Baltimore  relative  to  the  Liberian  negroes.  It  seems, 
however,  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  unable  in  1834  to  under- 
take that  mission ;  but  in  1 840  the  Holy  See  expressed  to  the 
bishops  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  its  desire  that  each  should 
appoint  a  missionary  to  go  to  the  African  colony.  **  It  was  consid- 
ered that  as  the  blacks  sent  there  were  from  the  United  States, 
and  as  some  from  Maryland  were  Catholics,  it  was  proper  that 
the  priests  appointed  to  announce  the  true  faith  to  them  should 
be  from  the  same  country.  Two  ecclesiastics  of  Irish  birth,  the 
Rev.  Edward  Barron  and  the  Rev.  John  Kelly,  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  task  at  the  call  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and,  accom- 
panied by  a  young  catechist  named  Dennis  Pindar,*  sailed  from 
Baltimore  on  the  21st  of  December,  1841,  for  Cape  Mesurado, 
■whence  they  proceeded  to  Cape  Palmas.  On  the  10th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1842,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barron  offered  the  Holy  Sacrifice  for 
the  first  time  in  that  land,  where  the  Gospel  seems  never  to 
have  been  preached  from  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tuiy.f 

The  two  missionaries  immediately  began,  by  means  of  inter- 
preters, to  preach  to  the  natives,  and  the  nation  of  the  Grebos 
was  soon  induced  to  consecrate  the  Sund.  v  to  rest.  After  a  short 
stay  in  Liberia,  Mr.  Barron  returned  to  he  United  States,  and 
thence  to  Ireland  and  Rome,  to  give  an  account  of  the  hopes  of 
his  mission,  and  to  realize  from  his  hereditary  estate  the  resources 
he  needed.  At  Rome  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity, 
with  the  title  of  Vicar-apostolic  of  both  Guineas,  and  obtained 
seven  priests  of  the  Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  and 

*  Dennis  Pindar,  born  at  Fermoy,  in  Ireland,  in  1823,  died  at  Cape  Pal- 
mas, January  1,  1844,  at  the  age  of  twenty  one,  after  having  displayed  for 
two  years  the  most  admirable  zeal  in  the  labors  of  the  mission.  To  his  care 
Bishop  Barron  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kelly  owed  their  lives  in  the  fevers  which 
attacked  them  on  that  fatal  shore. 

+  In  1604,  the  Jesuits,  under  Father  Bareira,  established  a  mission  at 
Sierra  Leone,  and  converted  a  native  prince  and  many  of  his  people. 


fa  I 


138 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


three  brothers  of  the  same  Order,  who  sailed  from  Bordeaux  in 
September,  and  arrived  at  Cape  Palmas  on  the  30th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1843.  These  missionaries  were  M.  John  Remi  Bessieur,  of 
the  diocese  of  Montpelier,  now  (1849)  Bishop  of  Callipolis  and 
Vicar-apostolic  of  both  Guineas ;  M.  De  Regnier,  who  died  at  the 
close  of  December,  1843;  M.  John  Louis  Rousset,  of  Amiens, 
who  soon  followed  him  to  the  grave ;  Mr.  Francis  Bouchet,  of  the 
diocese  of  Annecy,  who  died  at  sea  on  the  28th  of  May,  1844, 
while  going  from  Assinee  to  Toal  with  Bishop  Barron ;  Mr.  Au- 
dibert,  who  died  at  Great  Bassem ;  Mr.  Laval,  who  died  at  Assi- 
nee in  the  summer  of  1844;  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Maurice,  now  a 
missionary  in  the  United  States.* 

Three  Irish  brothers  or  students,  who  accompanied  the  mis- 
sionaries, all  sank  under  the  terrible  climate ;  but  three  French 
brothers,  though  attacked  by  the  fever,  finally  escaped. 

Bishop  Barron  was  thus  almost  in  a  moment  deprived  of  his 
zealous  co-laborers ;  all  being  stricken  down,  many  forever,  by 
the  fatal  climate.  The  indefatigable  Mr.  Kelly,  sick  himself,  dis- 
charged with  admirable  charity  the  part  of  physician  of  soul  and 
body  for  his  pious  brethren.  The  prelate,  after  again  visiting 
Rome,  deemed  it  best  to  confide  the  arduous  duties  of  his  mission 
to  the  Society  of  Father  Liebermann,  especially  devoted  to  the 
conversion  of  the  blacks.  He  accordingly  resigned  his  vicariate, 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1846,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Kelly  followed  his  example.  * 

Such  have  been  the  attempts  made  by  the  American  Church 
to  evangelize  the  blacks  on  the  African  coast.  If  it  was  com- 
pelled to  renounce  the  difficult  and  ungrateful  task,  it  has  the 


*  The  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  vol.  xix.  p.  102,  represent 
Mr.  Maurice  as  dying  there ;  but,  thank  heaven,  he  is  full  of  life.  In  1846 
lie  devoted  himself  to  the  American  missions.  He  spent  several  years  in  the 
diocese  of  Toronto,  and  is  now  pastor  of  St.  Peter's,  Buffalo ;  and  to  hib 
politeness  we  owe  the  above  faots  and  names. 


merit  of  J 

furaished  1 

By  the 

ecclesiastic 

scriptions  < 

committee 

three  colle| 

to  revise  a 

Nothing  is 

guard  agai] 

represented 

States.     In 

already  exp 

their  remar 

plicable  to  1 

"Goodn 

informed,  d 

*  Edward  1 
neas,  was  bor 
Barron  of  Wa 
and  won  the 
to  America,  a 
from  Liberia 
to  devote  iiin 
then  at  St.  L< 
mer  of  1854, 
for  two  weeke 
all  the  consoli 
Gartland  of  S 
riblt  hurrican 
the  elements, 
nah,  the  first 
September,  U 
lowed  him  to 
Kelly,  the  coi 
Jersey  City. 
we  have  been 
Africa. 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


139 


merit  of  pointing  out  the  good  to  be  done,  and  that  of  having 
furaished  the  first  rnissionaries  for  that  apostolic  work.*  ^• 

By  the  eighth  decree,  the  bishops  were  exhorted  to  open  an 
ecclesiastical  seminary  in  each  diocese,  conformably  to  the  pre- 
scriptions of  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  by  the  ninth  decree,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  composed  of  the  presidents  of  the 
three  colleges  of  St.  Mary's,  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  Georgetown, 
to  revise  and  expurge  the  books  intended  for  Catholic  schools. 
Nothing  is  indeed  more  important  than  to  put  children  on  their 
guard  against  the  wide-spread  prejudice  by  which  religion  is  mis- 
represented and  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  masses  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  pastoral  letter  of  the  first  Council,  the  bishops  had 
already  expatiated  on  the  bitter  results  of  these  preventions,  and 
their  remarks  have  a  practical  character  which  renders  them  ap- 
plicable to  the  present  as  to  the  period  when  they  were  written. 

"Good  men,"  said  the  prelates  in  1829,  "men  otherwise  well 
informed,  deeply  versed  in  science,  in  history,  in  politics — men 


*  Edward  Barron,  Bishop  of  Constantine  and  Vicar-apostolic  of  both  Gui- 
neas, was  born  in  Ireland  in  1801,  and  was  a  brother  of  Sir  Henry  Winton 
Barron  of  Waterford.  He  studied  at  the  College  of  the  Propaganda  at  Borne, 
and  won  the  doctor's  cap.  Some  years  after  his  return  to  Ireland  he  came 
to  America,  and  was  made  Vicar>general  of  Philadelphia.  On  his  return 
from  Liberia  in  1845,  Bishop  Barron  repeatedly  refused  a  diocese,  preferring 
to  devote  iiimself  to  the  humble  labors  of  the  mission,  first  at  Philadelphia, 
then  at  St.  Louis,  and  finally  in  Florida.  He  was  at  Savannah  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1854,  when  the  yellow  fever  broke  out  A*ith  fearful  violence :  and 
for  two  weeks  he  devoted  himself  with  boundless  zeal  to  bear  to  the  afflicted 
all  the  con^iolations  of  religion.  He  wrt.s  at  lust  seized  himself,  and  Bishop 
Gartland  of  Savannah  lavished  every  care  on  him  at  his  house,  when  a  ter- 
riblfc  hurricane  unroofed  it  and  left  the  holy  invalid  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  elements.  Hastily  transferred  to  the  house  of  a  pious  Catholic  in  Savan- 
nah, the  first  Bishop  of  both  Guineas  died  a  martyr  of  charity  on  the  12th  of 
September,  1854,  and  on  the  80th  of  the  same  month  Bishop  Gartland  fol- 
lowed him  to  heaven,  another  victim  of  his  apostolic  zeal.  The  Eev.  John 
Kelly,  the  companion  of  Bishop  Barron  at  Cape  Palmas,  is  now  pastor  of 
Jersey  City.  To  his  kindness  we  are  indebted  for  most  of  the  details  which 
we  have  been  able  to  give  as  to  this  most  interesting  mission  on  the  coast  of 
Africa. 


140 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


who  hftve  improved  their  education  by  their  travels  abroad,  as 
well  as  they  who  have  merely  acquired  the  very  rudiments  of 
knowledge  at  home ;  the  virtuous  women  who  influence  that  so- 
ciety which  they  decorate,  and  yielding  to  the  benevolence  of 
their  hearts,  desire  to  extend  useful  knowledge;  the  public  press; 
the  very  bench  of  public  justice,  have  been  all  influenced  by  ex- 
traordinary efforts  directed  against  us :  so  that  from  the  very 
highest  place  in  our  land  to  all  its  remotest  borders,  we  are  ex- 
hibited as  what  we  are  not,  and  charged  with  maintaining  what 
we  detest.  Repetition  has  given  to  those  statements  a  semblance 
of  evidence ;  and  groundless  assertions,  remaining  almost  uncon- 
tradicted, wear  the  appearance  of  admitted  and  irrefragable  tnith. 
. . .  Not  only  are  the  misrepresentations  of  which  we  complain 
propagated  so  as  to  affect  the  mature,  but,  with  a  zeal  worthy  of 
a  better  cause,  and  which  some  persons  have  exhibited  in  contrast 
with  our  seeming  apathy,  the  mind  of  the  very  infant  is  predis- 
posed against  ua  by  the  recitals  of  the  nursery,  and  the  schoolboy 
can  scarcely  find  a  book  in  which  some  one  or  more  of  our  insti- 
tutions or  practices  is  not  exhibited  far  otherwise  than  it  really  is, 
and  greatly  to  our  disadvantage.  The  entire  system  of  education 
is  thus  tinged  throughout  its  whole  course,  and  history  itself  has 
been  distorted  to  our  serious  injury."* 

The  two  councils  over  which  Archbishop  Whitfield  had  the 
glory  of  presiding,  and  which  illustrate  the  period  of  his  short 
episcopacy,  displayed  the  dignity  ani  conciliating  spirit  of  the 
venerable  metropolitan.  The  8essi(>ns  were  conducted  with  an 
order  and  unanimity  which  gave  general  satisfaction.  Before 
these  august  assemblies  the  prelates  of  the  United  States  had 
only  a  very  imperfect  knowledge  of  each  other ;  they  were  united 
only  by  the  common  sentiment  of  respect  which  the  episcopal 
character  inspired ;  but  after  deliberating  together  on  the  gravest 


♦  Notice  of  the  Rev.  James  Whitfield ;  Cacholio  Magazine,  iv.  461. 


interests 
other,  whi 
on  the  dei 
to  their  t 
esteem  fo 
very  impc 
trasted  wil 
was  the 
jurists,  adi 
some  poin 
full  of  res 
before  sole 
ance,  or  fe 
that  augus 
During 
Whitfield 
munities  ii 
for  the  C 
compromii 
in  a  previ< 
ryland  in 
Iheir  subs 
to  their  st 
field  had 
templative 
impossible 
peared  to 
terity  and 
archbishoi 


*  Archbif 
Propagatiot 
aud  Willian 
oftheUnitx 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


141 


interests  of  the  Church,  after  learning  to  esteem  and  love  each 
other,  while  exchanging  opinions  often  different,  but  always  based 
on  the  desire  of  the  g  ^.oral  good,  the  bishops  separated  to  bear 
to  their  several  dioceses  sentiments  of  sincerest  friendship  and 
esteem  for  each  other.  The  deliberations  of  the  Councils  were 
very  important  in  the  eyes  of  the  Catholic  population ;  they  con- 
trasted with  the  tumultuous  assemblies  of  Protestantism,  and  such 
was  the  veneration  which  they  inspired,  that  three  celebrated 
jurists,  admitted  once  before  the  bishops  to  give  an  opinion  on 
some  points  relating  to  the  civil  law  of  the  land,  left  the  Council 
full  of  respect  and  wonder.  "  We  have,"  they  said,  "  appeared 
before  solemn  tribunals  of  justice,  but  have  never  had  less  assur- 
ance, or  felt  lese  confidence  in  ourselves,  than  when  we  entered 
that  august  assembly."* 

During  the  whole  period  of  his  administration.  Archbishop 
Whitfield  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  three  female  religious  com- 
munities in  his  diocese,  and  showed  his  active  solicitude,  especially 
for  the  Carmelites,  because  they  had  to  undergo  trials  which 
compromised  the  very  existence  of  their  convent.  We  have  said 
in  a  previous  chapter  that  the  first  CarmSlite  nuns  arrived  in  Ma- 
ryland in  lYOO,  under  the  direction  of  Father  Charles  Neale. 
Iheir  subsequent  history  was  there  traced,  and  we  alluded  briefly 
to  their  struggles,  and  to  the  interest  which  Archbishop  Whit- 
field had  always  taken  in  that  devoted  community  of  pious  con- 
templatives.  Their  income  had  become  so  reduced,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  the  convent  to  subsist :  no  generous  founder  ap- 
peared to  enable  tbem,  by  his  alms,  to  continue  their  life  of  aus- 
terity and  prayer.  A  dissolution  seemed  unavoidable,  but  the 
archbishop  advised  a  removal  to  Baltimore,  and  such  a  modifica- 


♦  Archbishop  Whitfleld'a  Istter  of  January  28th,  1880 ;  Annales  de  la 
Propagation,  iv.  248.  The  three  juristB  were  Roger  B.  Taney,  John  Scott, 
and  William  G.  Read.  The  first  is  now  Chief-Justioe  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States. 


A 


r 


142 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


tion  of  their  rule  as  would  enable  them  to  join  the  other  sister- 
hoods in  the  great  work  of  teaching  the  young  of  their  own  sex. 
At  their  desire,  he  applied  to  the  Holy  See,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
obtained  the  necessary  dispensation.  After  their  transfer  to  Balti- 
more, the  good  nuns  found  in  Archbishop  Whitfield  a  generous 
father.  Their  school,  opened  soon  after  arrival,  was  continued 
till  1852,  and  proved  a  source  of  incalculable  blessings  to  the 
Catholics  of  that  city. 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  another  of  the  venerable  foundresses, 
Sister  Aloysia  Matthews,  expired,  on  the  12th  of  November,  1833, 
at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-one,  after  a  life  of  eminent  piety 
and  devotedness  to  her  rule.  Since  their  stay  in  Baltimore,  they 
have  had  among  their  excelleut  chaplains,  the  Rev.  Matthew 
Herard,  a  French  clergyman,  who  not  only  guided  them  by  his 
counsels,  but  aided  them  with  his  means  to  erect  their  present 
choir  and  chapel,  and  left  them  an  annuity  of  several  hundred 
dollars  for  the  support  of  a  chaplain.  After  his  time,  they  were 
for  some  years  directed  by  the  talented  and  zealous  Rev.  John 
B.  Gildea,  of  whom  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  elsewhere, 
and  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  GriflSn. 

Since  the  close  of  their  school,  the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mount  Carmel,  whose  community  now  numbeife  twenty  professed 
Sisters  and  one  novice,  see  once  more  renewed  the  trials  which 
encompassed  the  latter  days  of  their  stay  at  Port  Tobacco. 
Their  certain  regular  income  is  scarcely  more  than  a  hundred 
dollars;  for  all  else  they  rely  on  Providence,  which  will,  we 
trust,  ere  long  raise  them  up  a' generous  founder  to  endow  their 
house,  and  enable  our  country  to  possess,  for  many  a  day,  the 
blessings  which  such  a  community  must  bring. 

Doubtless  Archbishop  Whitfield,  had  he  foreseen  all,  would 
have  devoted  means  to  so  good  a  work,  for  he  lavished  his  for- 
tune on  the  diocese  to  which  the  voice  of  Peter  had  called.him. 
The  Cathedral  of  Baltimore  especially  shows  the  efifects  of  his  zeal 


and  libera 
began  am 
gave  also 
residence, 
own  expe 
Archbisho 
1833,  and 
celebrated 
merous  cU 
to  see  the 
1834  he  V 
prove  his  ; 
to  arrest  t 
expired  oo 
his  age. 
him: 

'Of  Ai 
few — that 
poor.  Pr 
observable 
it,  and  mi 
cause,  thr< 
neighbor, 
that  justi 
there  was 
him  from 
quent  acts 
orphan, 
the  world, 
Him  '  wh< 
crown  of 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


148 


and  liberality  in  the  construction  of  one  of  the  towers,  which  was 
began  and  completed  during  his  administration.  The  prelate 
gave  also  considerable  sums  lor  the  erection  of  the  archiepiscopal 
residence,  near  the  cathedral ;  and  finally,  he  built,  entirely  at  his 
own  expense,  the  beautiful  church  of  St.  James  at  Baltimore. 
Archbishop  Whitfield  laid  the  corner-stone  on  the  Ist  of  May, 
1833,  and  on  the  same  day,  in  the  following  year,  he  solemnly 
celebrated  the  ceremony  of  the  consecration,  attended  by  a  nu- 
merous clergy.  But  the  archbishop  lived  only  just  long  enough 
to  see  the  noble  pile  completed.  In  course  of  the  summer  of 
1834  he  was  advised  by  his  physicians  to  visit  the  Springs  to  im- 
prove his  fast  declining  health.  All  the  efforts  of  science  failed 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  disease,  and  Archbishop  Whitfield 
expired  on  the  19th  of  October,  1834,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of 
his  age.  His  biographer  has  given  us  the  following  portrait  of 
him : 

'  Of  Archbishop  Whitfield  may  be  said  what  can  be  said  of 
few — that  he  entered  the  career  of  honors  in  wealth  and  left  it 
poor.  Prudence  and  energy  were  traits  in  his  character  very 
observable  to  those  who  had  an  opportunity  of  duly  appreciating 
it,  and  many  acts  of  his  administration  have  been  censured,  be- 
cause, through  a-  spirit  of  charity  and  forbearance  towards  his 
neighbor,  he  abstained  from  exposing  to  public  view  the  grounds 
that  justified  and  compelled  such  a  course  of  proceeding.  If 
there  was  more  or  less  austerity  in  his  manner,  it  did  not  prevent 
him  from  cherishing  with  paternal  feelings  and  promoting  by  fre- 
quent acts  of  benevolence  the  happiness  of  the  indigent  and  the 
orphan.  Fond  of  retirement  and  indifferent  to  the  opinions  of 
the  world,  he  seemed  particularly  solicitous  to  merit  the  favor  of 
Him  '  who  seeth  in  secret,'  and  is  always  prepared  to  award  the 
crown  of  justice  to  his  faithful  servants."* 


*  Catholic  Mupttziue,  viii.  24-38. 


144 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


We  shall  add  but  two  words  to  this  portrait :  it  is,  that  by 
convoking  the  early  councils  of  Baltimore,  and  directing  their 
deliberations  with  the  most  remarkable  distinction.  Archbishop 
Whitfield  contributed  most  amply  and  efficaciously  to  organize 
the  Church  in  the  United  States.  Among  the  papers  of  Bishop 
Drut^  we  have  found  a  note  in  that  prelate^s  handwriting,  which 
gives  the  exact  number  of  priests  in  each  of  the  twelve  dioceses 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  20th  of  October,  1833.  They  num- 
bered then,  in  all,  three  hundred  and  eight  ecclesiastics — seventy- 
two  American  bom,  ninety-one  Irish,  seventy-three  French,  seven- 
teen Italians,  thirty-nine  Belgians  and  Germans,  some  English 
and  Spanish,  and  one  Pole.  This  diversity  of  origin  undoubtedly 
increases  the  diflBculty  of  creating  among  the  clergy  a  homoge- 
neous spirit ;  yet  the  Catholic  spirit  rules  in  all  its  glory,  and 
neutralizes  the  different  nationalities.  Moreover,  the  population 
of  the  United  States  is  only  a  mixture  of  all  races.  This  forms 
its  distinctive  characteristic,  and  the  clergy  only  renews  the  varied 
origin  of  the  nations.  Of  these  three  hundred  and  eight  ecclesi- 
astics-, one  hundred  and  seventy  had  been  ordained  in  the  United 
States,  making  over  half  the  whole  number ;  but  this  result  is 
not  so  consoling  as  might  be  at  first  supposed,  if  it  be  remarked 
that  only  seventy-two  are  Americans.  The  bishops  who  go  to 
Europe  generally  bring  back  seminarians,  who  receive  holy  orders 
in  the  United  States.  Among  the  names  of  the  ecclesiasts  there 
were  forty-three  Jesuits,  fourteen  Sulpitians,  ten  Dominicans, 
twelve  Lazarists,  and  three  Augustinians ;  and  we  shall  soon  see 
the  Redemptorists  and  the  Oblates  swell  the  ranks  of  the  regular 
clergy,  especially  precious  in  a  mission  land.* 

*  Catholic  Magazine,  iv.  408.  V 

4* 


Moat  Rev.  Sat 
Christian  8e 
Council  of  '. 
Forbin-Jant 
llglon  In  \h 

Before 

that  prelat 

the  Holy  S 

govern  a  d: 

person  the] 

of  St.  Mar 

and  in  the 

apostolic,  n 

and  Coadji 

succession. 

of  Baltinio 

bishop  Wl 

dignitary  8( 

death,  whic 

ton  became 

received  th 

and  he  was 

invested  wi 

which  the  ! 

Samuel  1 

county,  on 


IN  THE   UNITED  8TATE0. 


146 


\: 


CHAPTER   XI. 


DI0CK8E    OF    BALTIMORE — (1884-1840). 

Host  Rev.  Samnel  Ecdeston,  D.D.,  ftflb  Arohbtthop  of  BaUiniore^TU«  Brothers  of  the 
GhristiAD  Schools— The  Redemptorbits— The  Oerinan  Catholics— The  Lszarists— Third 
Council  of  Baltimore— New  Episcopal  Bees— Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore— Bishop 
Forbin-Jan£on  in  America — Dioceses  of  Richmond  and  Wheeling,  and  a  glance  at  re- 
ligion in  Vfigluiffl. 

Before  sickness  had  seriously  enfeebled  Archbishop  Whitfield, 
that  prelate  and  his  sufifragans  had  been  engaged  in  proposing  to 
the  Holy  See  an  ecclesiastic  whose  zeal  and  piety  fitted  him  to 
govern  a  diocese  so  important  as  that  of  Baltimore ;  and  such  a 
person  they  had  found  in  the  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  President 
of  St.  Mary's  College.  The  Propaganda  approved  this  choice, 
and  in  the  summer  of  1834  Archbishop  Whitfield  received  letters 
apostolic,  nominfl*iug  Mr.  Eccleston  Bishop  of  Thermia  in  paribus, 
and  Coadjutoi  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  with  the  right  of 
succession.  Tho  prelate  elect  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Baltimore  on  the  14th  of  September  in  tho  same  year.  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  performing  the  ceremony.  But  that  worthy 
dignitary  soon  sunk  under  the  weight  of  his  infirmities,  and  at  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  19th  of  October,  1834,  Dr.  Eccles- 
ton became  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  Tit  the  following  year  he 
received  the  pallium,  the  complement  of  his  metropolitan  dignity ; 
and  he  was  at  the  same  time,  as  his  two  predecessors  had  been, 
invested  with  the  administration  of  the  See  of  Richmond,  for 
which  the  Holy  See  appointed  no  bishop  till  1841. 

Samuel  Eccleston  was  born  on  the  2'7th  of  June,  1801,  in  Kent 
county,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland.     His  grandfather,  Sir 

7 


146 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


John  Eccleston,  had  emigrated  thither  from  England  some  years 
before  the  Revolutionary  War.  His  parents  occupied  an  honora- 
ble position  in  society,  and  belonged  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which,  too,  young  Samuel  was  educated.  But  while 
still  young  his  mother  became  a  widow,  and  married  a  worthy 
Catholic ;  and  this  event  opened  to  him  a  horizon  of  light  and 
grace,  considerably  developed  in  the  sequel  by  his  education. 
The  young  man  was  placed  at  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  and 
distinguished  himself  in  all  branches  of  study,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  learned  to  know  religion.  He  there  embraced  the  Cath- 
olic faith  while  still  at  colbge,  and  was  so  deeply  impressed  at 
the  death  of  one  of  his  venerable  professors,  that  he  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  the  ecclesiastical  state.  He  entered  the  semi- 
nary attached  to  the  college  on  the  23d  of  May,  1819,  but  was 
scarcely  inclosed  in  this  retreat  of  his  choice  when  he  was  beset 
with  pressing  solicitations  from  his  kindred  and  friends  to  abandon 
a  career  in  their  eyes  contemptible,  and  to  return  to  the  world,  of 
which  they  displayed  the  attractions.  No  consideration  could 
alter  Eccleston's  step;  on  the  contrary,  temptations  confirmed 
him  in  his  pious  design,  and  he  received  the  tonsure  in  the  course 
of  the  year  1820.  While  pursuing  his  theological  studies,  he 
rendered  useful  service  in  the  college  as  professor.  Deacon's 
orders  were  conferred  on  him  in  1823,  and  on  the  24th  of  April, 
1826,  he  was  raised  to  ecclesiastical  dignity.  Five  months  after 
his  ordination  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eccleston  repaired  to  France,  and 
spent  almost  two  years  in  the  Sulpitian  solitude  at  Issy.  Re- 
turning home  in  1827,  after  visiting  Ireland  and  England,  he 
brought  back  an  immense  fund  of  acquired  knowledge  and  ar- 
dent zeal  for  the  cause  of  religion.  Appointed  Vice-president  of 
St.  Mary's  College,  then  President  of  that  institution,  he  dis- 
charged with  remarkable  success  these  important  functions,  when 
the  confidence  of  the  Holy  See  selected  him  for  the  Episcopate. 
On  his  succession,  Archbishop  Eccleston  found  religion  flour- 


.-  r^'.'f^-'trn-^lr^i'jrryirj-.fw^T^J?!-:,^.  '^"^^l^W:.  *.ff  W''^  ' '' 


»•»•> 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


147 


ishing  in  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Ecclesiastical  seminaries,  re- 
ligious institutions,  several  houses  for  the  education  of  youth  of 
both  sexes,  and  a  numerous  clergy  for  the  exercise  of  the  ministry 
— these  resources  showed  themselves  only  in  Maryland ;  Catho- 
licity is  better  spread  there  than  in  most  of  the  States  of  the 
Union.  The  archbishop  felt,  however,  that  the  growing  wants  of 
the  faithful  required  renewed  eflforts ;  and  he  took  to  heart  to  in- 
crease the  facilities  for  religious  instruction.  During  his  admin- 
istration, the  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown  opened  three 
new  schools — at  Baltimore,  Frederick,  and  Washington.  The 
Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  invited  to  Baltimore,  opened  a 
novitiate  at  Calvert  Hall ;  and  before  the  prelate's  death,  these 
four  schools  were  frequented  by  eleven  hundred  scholars,  while 
the  pious  teachers  of  youth  gave  at  the  same  time  their  care  to 
an  orphan  asylum  containing  sixty-four  children.*  Other  schools 
were  directed  by  the  Brothers  of  St.  Patrick,  who,  at  the  same 
time,  managed  a  model  farm,  where  a  manual-labor  school  was 
founded  in  1848  by  the  Rev.  James  Dolan,  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's, 


*  The  Institute  of  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  was  founded  in 
1679,  by  the  venerable  John  Baptist  de  la  Salle,  and  approved  by  Pope  Bon- 
edict  XIII.  The  professed  house  was  first  at  St. Yon,  near  Arpajon,  whence 
the  Brothers  have  often  been  called  Brothers  of  St.  Yon.  At  present,  how- 
ever, the  General  resides  at  Passy,  near  Paris.  The  government  of  the  insti- 
tute is  divided  into  nineteen  provinces — ten  in  France,  Algiers,  and  the 
colonies,  and  the  other  nine  in  Belgium,  Prussia,  Switzerland,  Savoy,  Pied- 
mont, the  United  States,  Canada,  the  Levant,  and  Malaysia.  England  will 
soon  be  organized  as  a  province.  In  these  provinces  there  are  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  establishments,  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty-three 
schools,  four  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  classes,  and  two  hundred 
and  seventy-five  thousand  pupils.  The  United  States  form  a  part  of  the 
province  of  Canada,  the  central  house  being  at  Montreal.  The  first  estab- 
lishment in  the  United  States  was  that  at  Baltimore  in  1846.  Two  yearn 
after,  New  York  also  possessed  these  Brothers,  in  consequence  of  the  efforts 
and  sacrifices  of  the  worthy  Father  Annet  Lafont,  pastor  of  the  French 
church  in  that  city.  At  the  present  time  the  Christian  Brothers  have  schools 
In  the  dioceses  of  Baltimore,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Albany,  St.  Louis,  New 
Orleans,  and  Detroit. 


148 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


Baltimore.*  In  the  city  of  Baltimore  the  churches  of  St.  Alphon- 
sus,  St.  Vincent,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Peter,  St.  Michael,  and  the  new 
Lazarist  church,  the  Carmelite  and  Visitation  chapels,  were 
erected  during  the  episcopacy  of  Archbishop  Eccleston.  In  the 
interior  of  the  diocese,  ten  churches  were  also  built  by  his  care, 
while  the  number  of  ecclesiastics  was  almost  doubled,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  establishment  of  the  Redemptorists  and  Lazarists, 
with  whom  the  prelate's  zeal  succeeded  in  gifting  Maryland. 

The  Priests  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer  exercised  their  minis- 
try principally  among  the  German  population,  who  form  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  Catholic  body  in  the  United  States. 
During  the  period  from  1840  to  1850,  the  emigration  to  the 
United  States  was  composed  annually  of  about  two  hundred 
thousand  Irish  and  eighty  thousand  German  immigi'ants.  For 
some  time  the  respective  numbers  of  the  two  nations  have 
changed.  More  liberal  laws,  emigration  to  Australia,  and  the 
fear  of  a  religious  persecution  in  the  United  States,  have  sensibly 
checked  the  movement  which  bore  the  Irish  to  this  country ; 
while  the  consequences  of  insurrection  in  Germany  in  1848,  and 
the  impoverishment  of  the  country  brought  on  by  these  troubles, 
have  drawn  to  the  United  States  the  Germanic  population.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1854,  the  number  of  Germans  landed  in  the  United 
States  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  and  that 
of  the  Irish  sank  to  one  hundred  and  one  thousand.  Among 
these  Germans,  about  a  fourth  or  a  fifth  are  Catholics  from  Ba- 
varia, Saxony,  Baden,  the  Rhine  Provinces,  and  Wirtemburg. 

*  The  Brothers  of  St.  Patrick  were  founded  in  1808,  in  the  county  Carlow 
in  Ireland,  by  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Delany,  to  secure  a  Christian  education  to 
the  young.  This  society  acquired  some  extension  in  Ireland,  and  in  1848  it 
had  three  houses.  At  the  request  of  the  Rev.  James  Dolan,  three  Brothers 
of  this  society  came  to  Baltimore  in  the  fall  of  1846,  and  there  apsumed  the 
direction  of  the  school  attached  to  St.  Patrick's.  They  opened  a  novitiate, 
and  took  care  of  the  model  farm,  established  soon  after  at  Govestown  lo 
teach  the  orphans  farming.  In  1858,  however,  the  Brothers  left  the  diocese, 
while  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  have  extended  remarkably. 


I 

4- 


'^'i 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


149 


^^• 


As  may  be  imagined,  episcopal  solicitude  was  early  turned  to  the 
spiritual  wants  of  so  many  good  people ;  yet  until  1840  they  had 
been  but  poorly  provided  for  in  this  respect.  The  American 
clergy  did  not  understand  the  language  of  these  new-comers,  and 
they  themselves  felt  little  inclined  to  visit  churches  where  the 
English  instruction  was  unintelligible  to  them.  In  some  dioceses 
in  the  West,  German  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  attended  a 
certain  number  of  parishes.  Other  churches  were  formed  under 
the  pastoral  charge  of  German  secular  priests ;  but  these  came 
from  their  dioceses  without  mission,  and  did  not  always  possess 
the  high  character  due  to  their  calling,  and  often  experienced  in- 
surmountable difficulties  in  governing  their  flocks.  The  laity, 
imbued  with  Congregational  ideas,  incessantly  endeavored  to 
usurp  the  temporal  administration,  deliberate  on  the  choice  of 
their  pastors,  elect  their  priest  or  dismiss  him  at  will,  and  the 
rights  of  the  bishops  were  of  no  avail  against  this  sectarian  obsti- 
nacy. More  than  one  church  was  scarcely  built  when  it  was  in- 
terdicted by  the  diocesan  authority. 

The  establishment  of  the  Redemptorists  in  the  United  States, 
due  to  the  negotiations  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  has  ej  ected  a 
mo^t  consoling  change  in  this  state  of  things.  The  pious  sons  of 
St.  Al.phonsus  Liguori  have  very  flourishing  provinces  in  Ger- 
many. In  1841  a  colony  from  the  province  of  Austria  was 
installed  at  Baltimore.  It  has  since  then  received  successively 
new  reinforcements,  and  is  now  a  distinct  province,  containing 
upwards  of  sixty  Fathers,  scattered  in  residences  over  seven  dio- 
ceses— New  York,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  New  Or- 
leans, Detroit,  Buffalo,  and  Rochester.  Success  has  generally 
crowned  the  efforts  of  their  apostolical  zeal.  The  German  Cath- 
olics are  no  longer  the  object  of  isolated  efforts.  A  powerful 
organization  now  devotes  itself  to  their  spiritual  succor,  and  the 
Redemptorists  have  had  the  talent  of  bending  these  difficult 
minds  to  an  obedience  any  thing  but  Calvinistic. '   If  the  Germans 


a 


« "i  v 


160 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


I- 


have  lost  what  some  would  call  independence  of  reason,  iboy 
have  gained  in  devotion,  which  is  clear  profit,  for  piety  ill  accords 
with  those  stubborn  wills  which  oppose  their  bishop  as  well  as 
their  ^^tor.  The  German  parishes  are  now  distinguished  for 
their  regularity.  The  celebration  of  the  offices  of  the  Church  is 
even  performed  with  a  pomp  that  contrasts  singularly  with  the 
simplicity  of  worship  in  the  Irish  and  American  churches.  The 
Catholics  of  Ireland  and  England,  so  long  deprived  of  the  public 
exercise  of  their  religion,  often  able  to  hear  only  Low  Mass  in 
secret,  know  not  how  to  mingle  their  voices  with  the  chants  of 
the  Church.  The  generations  which  have  grown  up  since  the  act 
of  emancipation  in  England  or  the  revolution  in  the  United 
States,  do  not  know  the  advantage  of  religious  melodies ;  the 
chill  of  Protestantism  seems  to  have  settled  on  the  brow  of  Cath- 
olics living  amid  the  Babel  of  sectaries,  and  the  traveller  who 
visits  the  Catholic  churches  in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and 
the  United  States,  is  struck  by  the  absence  of  the  Gregoiian  rites. 
A  choir  of  females  grouped  around  the  organ  alone  undertakes  to 
execute,  as  best  it  may,  some  Mass  of  modem  composition,  in  the 
presence  of  a  mute  auditory,  indifferent  to  these  accents.  The 
Germans,  on  the  contrary,  musical  by  nature,  mingle  their  sono- 
rous voices  with  the  consecrated  chant  of  the  ritual ;  .the  whole 
people,  blending  with  the  prayers  of  the  clergy,  improvise  choral 
Masses  of  the  finest  effect ;  and  the  renown  of  tho^r  ceremonial 
attracts  to  their  churches  in  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New 
York  numbers  of  the  curious,  who  alw    s  leave  them  edified. 

The  Redemptorists  do  not  confine  their  ministry  to  the  Ger- 
mans. They  give  missions  and  preach  in  many  parishes,  and 
these  exercises  revive  piety  in  the  breasts  of  the  faithful.  Their 
novitiates  have  received  many  converted  Protestant  ministers  or 
ecclesiastics,  who  have  become  exemplary  priests,  and  whose  elo- 
quent words  exercise  a  notable  influence  on  their  former  co-re- 
ligionists.   Their  Provincial  resides  at  the  convent  in  Baltimore. 


I 


I 

T 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


151 


*^'* 


The  novitiate  is  at  Annapolis,  in  the  house  of  Charles  Carroll  of 
CarroUton,  generously  given  to  the  Redemptorists  by  the  grand- 
daughters of  that  patriarch  of  independence,  the  last  of  the 
signers,  and  cousin  of  the  first  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  The 
Fathers  are  assisted  bv  Brothers  rf  their  Order,  who  direct  schools 
iu  many  parishes  served  by  the  Redemptorists.* 

The  pious  Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission,  or  Laza- 
rists,  was  also  invited  to  Maryland  by  Archbishop  Sccleston,  and 
now  direct  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emmitsburg  according  to  the 
rules  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  It  was  not  till  1850  that  three 
Lazarista  from  Missouri  came  to  the  diocese  of  Baltimore ;  but  the 
congTv^gation  had  existed  from  ISlT  in  Upper  Louisiana,  now 
Missouri.  When  Bishop  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans  was  conse- 
crated in  1815  at  Rome,  he  obtained  some  Lazarists  of  the  Roman 
province  for  his  diocese.  The  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis  was  the 
Superior  of  the  little  company  which  set  out  for  America,  and  the 
Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  subsequently  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  succeeded 
as  Superior  on  his  death.  In  a  letter  from  Mr.  Rosati  to  the 
Abbe  Brute,  dated  from  St.  Mary's  Seminary  at  the  Barrens, 
January  29,  1822,  we  read:  "  On  our  arrival  at  Baltimore  from 
Europe  we  were  only  four  of  our  congregation,  three  priests  and 

*  The  Society  of  Missionaries  of  tiie  Most  Holy  Redeemer  was  founded  in 
1782,  by  St.  Alphorsus  Liguori,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  with  the  appro- 
bation of  Pope  Clement  XII.  The  rule  was  promulgated  June  21st,  1742. 
The  congregation  has  since  extended  widely,  and  out  of  Italy  embraces  the 
provinces  of  Austria,  Belgium,  Germany,  the  United  States,  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Holland,  Till  lately  the  Kector-major  resided  at  Noeera,  near 
Naples.  The  Vicar-general  who  administered  the  transalpine  provinces  had 
some  duties  of  subordination  to  the  Rector-major.  But  by  a  decree  «f  the 
Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Regulars  of  Oclobor  8th,  1854,  the  following 
dispositions  were  made : 

1st.  A  house  of  the  Order,  as  it  exists  out  of  Italy,  shall  be  established  at 
Rome.  2d.  The  Superior-general  shall  reside  at  Rome.  3d.  The  General 
Chapter  of  the  Order  shall  meet  at  Rome. 

St.  Alphonsus  was  canonized  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  in  1889. 

The  present  Provincial  of  the  Redemptorists  in  tl>e  United  StateB  is  Father 
Hafkenscheid.  * 


11 


■/■' 


162 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


a  brother.  We  are  now  nineteen — ten  priests,  three  clericn,  and 
six  brothers.  Our  gentlemen  in  Italy  take  a  great  interest  w 
us,  and  send  us  some  subjects,  and  others  have  joined  us  in 
America." 

The  province  of  Italy  continues  to  assist  the  missions  of  the 
United  States,  and  many  of  the  Lazarists  in  the  dioceses  of  St. 
Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  Baltimore  are  Italians.  This  congrega- 
tion has  given  the  American  Church  several  prelates — Bishop 
Rosati,  already  named,  and  also  Bishops  De  Neckere,  Odin,  and 
Timon.  They  direct  the  Seminary  of  New  Orleans  and  one  of 
those  in  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis ;  and  by  becoming  the  directors 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  Emraitsburg  they  extend  their  influ- 
ence over  all  parts  of  America.* 

During  the  term  of  his  episcopate,  Archbishop  Eccleston  was 
called  upon  to  preside  over  five  of  the  Provincial  Councils  of  Bal- 
timore, and  he  discharged  his  important  duties  with  equal  wisdom 
and  dignity,  exercising  the  most  cordial  hospitality  towards  his 
brother  prelates.  His  suffragans  accordingly  resolved  to  show 
their  gratitude  by  offering  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  in  their 
collective  name,  the  rich  vestments  and  plate  of  an  episcopal 
chapel. 

The  third  Provincial  Council  met  at  Baltimore  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1837,  and  eight  bishops  there  sat  around  their  metropoli- 

*  The  Congregation  of  Priests  of  the  Mission  was  founded  by  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  and  appro /ed  successively  by  John  Francis  dj  Gondi,  Archbishop 
of  Paris,  April  26th,  1628;  by  a  bull  of  Pope  Urban  VUi.,  January,  1632; 
and  by  letters  patent  of  Louis  XIIL  May,  1642.  In  the  last-mentioned  year, 
the  Priests  of  the  Mission  founded  a  house  at  Komo,  and  since  then  a  prov- 
ince of  the  Congregation  has  had  its  seat  at  Home.  The  main  end  of  these 
priests  is  to  labor  for  their  own  perfection,  to  devote  themselves  to  the  sal- 
vation of  poor  country  people  by  means  of  missions,  and  to  exert  themselves 
for  the  spiritual  advancement  of  ecclesiastics.  In  1632  they  took  possession 
of  the  establishment  of  St.  Lazarus  at  Paris,  an  old  priory  of  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  of  St.  Lazarus  of  Jerusalem.  Although  the  Priests  of  the  Mis- 
sion were  dispossessed  of  their  house  of  St.  Lazarus  in  1792,  they  continue 
lo  be  generally  known  by  the  name  of  Lazarists. 


i 


I 
t 

c 


s 

t 
I 

i 
c 
I 
t 


t   :- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


153 


tan.    At  the  first  private  session,  the  following  letter  from  the 
Bishop  of  Detroit  was  submitted : 

*'  Most  Reverend  Fathebs 

"  In  Pbovincial  Synod  at  Baltimobe  ASSEMBUia) : 

"  It  is  known  that  I  reluctantly  accepted  the  episcopal  consecra- 
tion, and  I  soon  learned  by  experience  that  the  erection  and  ad- 
ministration of  a  new  diocese,  with  its  numberless  diflSculties  and 
cares  springing  up  on  every  side,  were  a  burden  far  too  great  for 
me  to  bear,  and  I  have  accordingly  frequently  entertained  the  in- 
tention of  resigning  my  diocese  into  the  hands  of  His  Holiness 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  or  at  least  of  soliciting  a  capable  coadjutor 
from  the  Holy  See.  This  intention  I  desire  to  carry  out  by  these 
presents,  and  for  this  purpose  I  have  empowered  my  two  actual 
Vicars-general,  Rev.  Messrs.  Badin  and  De  Bruyn,  to  exercise 
joint  jurisdiction  in  my  absence,  until  further  arrangements  are 
made. 

"  Such  is  the  matter  which  I  deem  proper  to  lay  before  you. 
Most  Reverend  Fathers,  and  I  beg  you  to  excuse  me  if  I  cannot 
take  pai-t  in  this  Council,  and  also  to  aid  me  to  obtain  the  suc- 
cessful realization  of  n.    aesires,  if  it  shall  seem  good  in  our  Lord. 

"  f  Frederick  RfesA,  Bishop  of  Detroit 
"St.  Mary's Beminaby,  Baltimore,  April  15,  1837." 

After  deliberating  on  this  letter,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  re- 
solved to  ask  the  Holy  Father  to  accept  Bishop  Rese's  resigna- 
tion, and  to  appoint  a  successor  to  his  See.  The  Propaganda, 
however,  by  a  letter  dated  September  2d,  1837,  intimated  that  in 
this  matter  His  Holiness  deferred  a  decision  as  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  resignation  and  the  appointment  of  a  successor,  imtil  Bishop 
R68e  had  been  heard  in  person.  That  prelate  accordingly  went 
to  Rome,  and  by  a  letter  dated  December  19th,  1840,  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Propaganda  announced  that  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Odin 


164 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


V) 


I 


had  been  appointed  Bishop  Administrator  of  Detroit,  Bishop  Res^ 
suspensus  7,mnens.  Mr.  Odin  did  not  accept  the  functions,  and 
2i  last,  on  the  2l8t  of  November,  1841,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Paul 
xjcfevre*  was  co'  aerated  Bishop  of  Tela,  Coadjutor  and  Admin- 
istrator of  Detroit.  Bishop  R6s6  resided  at  Rome  till  the  revolu- 
tion of  1849,  on  which  he  retired,  we  believe,  to.  Germany,  his 
native  country. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council  in  1837  proposed  to  the  Holy  See 
the  erection  of  new  dioceses — at  Nashville  for  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, at  Natchez  for  the  State  of  Mississippi,  at  Dubuque  for 
the  Territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  at  Pittsburg  for  the  western  part 
of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  The  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, by  letter  of  September  2,  1837,  transmitted  the  Pontifical 
briefs,  of  the  date  of  July  28th,  founding  three  new  dioceses,  and 
appointing  to  the  See  of  Natchez,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden ;  to 
that  of  Dubuque,  the  Rev.  Matthew  Loras ;  and  to  that  of  Nash- 
ville, the  Rev.  Richard  Miles.  The  division  of  the  diocese  of 
Philadelphia,  by  the  erection  of  a  See  at  Pittsburg,  was  deferred, 
and  a  coadjutor  was  given  ^o  Bishop  Dubois  of  New  York,  in  the 
person  of  Rev.  John  Hughes,  then  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  church, 
Philadelphia.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden  refused  the  episcopal 
dignity,  and  it  was  not  till  the  month  of  December,  1840,  that  in 
consequence  of  his  declining  it,  the  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche  was 
called  to  the  See  of  Natchez.f 

On  the  17th  of  May,   1840,  the  fourth  Provincial  Council 

*  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevre  was  boru  on  the  80th  of  April,  1804,  at 
Rouler,  West  Flanders. 

+  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden,  a  native  of  this  country,  ordained  at  Baltimore 
in  182.1,  is  now  Vicar-general  of  Pittsburg,  and  resides  at  Bedford,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Rt.  Rev.  Matthew  Loras  was  born  at  Lyons,  on  the  30th  of  August,  1794, 
and  came  to  America  in  1 829  with  Bishop  Portier.  At  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion he  was  Vicar-general  of  Mobile,  and  was  consecrated  at  Mobile  on  the 
10th  of  December,  1837,  by  Bishop  Portier,  assisted  by  Bishop  Blanc. 

Bt.  Rev.  Richard  Pius  Miles  was  born  in  Maryland,  May  17, 1791,  and  was 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


155 


opened  at  Baltimore.  Thirteen  bishops  were  present,  and  among 
them  the  pious  Bishop  of  Nancy,  Monseigneur  de  Forbin-Janson. 
At  a  preparatory  meeting,  held  on  the  14th  of  May,  the  Ameri- 
can prelates  had  unanimously  resolved  .to  invite  their  French 
brother  to  assist  at  their  sessions  v^ith  a  deliberative  and  decisive 
vote,  and  thus  acknowledged  the  services  rendered  to  religion  in 
the  United  States  by  the  ardeut  zeal  of  Bishop  Forbin-Janson. 
The  missions  which  he  gave  in  various  dioceses  produced  the 
most  abundant  fruits.  His  eloquence  and  liberality  founded  a 
French  church  in  New  York,  and  Canada  still  remembers  the 
wonders  of  his  evangelical  charity  and  the  touching  ceremony  of 
planting  l  cross  a  hundred  feet  high  on  the  mountain  of  BelcBil, 
whencft  the  august  sign  of  salvation  casts  its  protecting  shadow 
over  the  surrounding  fields  and  villages.  America  is  also  in- 
debted to  him  for  the  organization  of  ecclesiastical  retreats,  and 
never  indeed  will  the  name  of  the  holy  prelate  cease  to  be  men- 
tioned with  reverence.* 


Il> 


Provincial  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic  prior  to  his  consecration,  which  took 
place  at  Bardstown,  September  16,  1888. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Joseph  Chanche  was  born  at  Baltimore,  on  the  4th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1795,  of  French  parents,  refugees  from  St.  Domingo;  was  ordained 
in  1819,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Society  of  St  Sulpice.  He  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Natchez,  at  Baltimore,  on  the  11th  of  March,  1841,  and 
died  July  22,  1852. 

*  Charles  Augustus  Mary  Joseph  de  Forbin-Janson,  bom  at  Paris  in  1785, 
was  admitted  at  the  age  of  twenty- one  as  an  auditor  in  the  Council  of  State, 
but  soon  abandoning  this  career,  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice, 
and  was  ordtiiiied  at  Chambery  in  1811.  He  remained  in  Savoy  till  the  rea- 
toration ,  returning  then  to  France,  he  devoted  himself,  with  Mr.  Rauzan, 
to  the  establishment  of  missions.  Ho  preached  with  admirable  zeal  through- 
out France,  founded  the  house  of  missionaries  of  Mt.  Valerien,  made  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  Land,  and  effected  many  conversions  in  the  East, 
especially  at  Smyrna.  Appointed  Fishop  of  Nancy,  he  was  prevented  by 
political  intrigues  from  accomplishing  all  the  good  he  meditated  for  his  dio- 
cese, and  at  last,  to  his  regret,  was  compelled  to  leave  it.  His  voyage  to  the 
United  States  occurred  in  1839,  and  he  there  effecter.  immense  good  by  hia 
missions  in  Louisiana,  New  York,  and  Canada.  Returning  to  France  in 
1842,  his  last  years  were  consecrated  to  founding  the  admirable  Society  of 


I 


".-'tTf;.: 


156 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  Council  of  Baltimore,  honored  by  the  prcence  of  a  noble 
confessor  of  the  faith,  could  not  but  feel  a  deep  sympathy  in  other 
confessors,  whose  devotedness  to  the  Catholic  faith  was  then  re- 
warded by  a  dungeon.  The  American  bishops  addressed  a  warm 
letter  of  felicitation  and  encouragement  to  Claude  Augustus  de 
Droste  de  Vischering,  Bishop  of  Cologne,  and  to  Mart'n  de  Dun- 
nin.  Archbishop  of  Posen,  thus  showing  that  the  beart  of  the 
Church  everywhere  throbs  with  the  same  life,  and  that  the  trials 
of  religion  in  Europe  are  felt  oven  in  the  Now  World. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council,  by  their  fifth  decree,  very  earnestly 
recommended  the  formation  of  temperance  societies  among  the 
Catholics ;  and  in  fact  abstinence  from  spirituous  liquors  is  the 
only  means  of  preserving  the  people  from  the  dangers  of  intoxica- 
tion, by  sheltering  them  from  the  misery  and  vice  which  are  the 
consequences  of  this  degrading  vice.  It  is  the  besetting  sin  of 
the  Irish  laborer,  and  it  is  only  when  his  conscience  is  bound  by 
an  oath  of  honor,  and  he  belongs  to  an  association  consecrated 
by  reUgion,  that  he  has  power  to  resist  the  poisonous  attrac- 
tions of  liquor.  The  celebrated  Father  Theobald  Mathew  did  not 
confine  his  labors  to  Ireland.  In  1849  he  came  to  America,  and 
spent  two  years  and  a  half  constantly  preaching  temperance  and 
enrolling  thousands  of  the  faithful  under  the  banner  of  sobriety. 
Canada  had  already  felt  the  advantage  of  such  an  association, 
and  Father  Chiniquy,  the  Apostle  of  Temperance,  efi"ected  in  his 
native  province  wonders  equal  to  those  of  Father  Mathew  in  Ire- 
land. 

The  Council  carefully  examined  the  petition  of  the  Catholic 
inhabitants  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  for  a  bishop ;  but  the  place  did 


the  Holy  Childhood,  for  the  salvation  of  Chinese  infants.  He  died  at  Prov- 
ence, .July  12,  1844.  See  notice  on  Monseigneur  de  Forbin-Jansou  in  the 
first  number  of  the  Annals  of  the  Holy  Childhood,  January,  1846.  Elogo 
Funcbre  de  Monseigneur  de  Forbin-Janson,  par  Laoordalre.  Conferen- 
ces, i.  455. 


rA 


l>> 


r 


►v 


IN  THE   UNITED  8TATSS. 


167 


not  seem  to  them  sufficiently  important  to  be  created  the  centre 
of  a  diocese.  From  the  same  motives,  the  American  prelates 
were  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  well  to  transfer  to  Louisville  the 
See  of  Bardstown,  as  the  latter  town  remained  stationary,  while 
the  former,  situated  on  the  Ohio,  in  a  very  advantageous  position 
for  trade,  beheld  its  population  rapidly  increasing.  The  Pontifi- 
cal rescript  authorizing  this  translation  was  received  by  Bishop 
Flaget  early  in  1841,  and  the  venerable  prelate,  though  not  with- 
out lively  regret,  left  the  cradle  of  religion  in  Kentucky. 

The  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda,  by  letter  of  December 
19th,  1840,  made  known  that  the  diocese  of  Richmond,  compris- 
ing the  State  of  Virginia,  would  cease  in  future  to  be  adminis- 
tered by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore ;  and  that  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  had  appointed  the  Rev.  Richard  V.  Whelan  to  that  See. 
This  clergyman,  a  native  of  Maryland,  had  for  several  years 
evangelized  the  ungrateful  mission  of  Virginia,  and  we  may  here 
say  a  few  words  of  the  humble  beginnings  of  Catholicity  in  the 
Old  Dominion. 

In  1684  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  sent  out  from  England,  at  his  own 
expense,  an  expedition  which  took  nominal  possession  of  certain 
parts  of  the  American  coast ;  and  on  the  return  of  the  vessels, 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself  gave  her  new  possessions  the  name  of 
Virginia,  in  honor  of  her  title  of  Virgin  Queen,  which  it  is  certain 
she  claimed,  tut  not  certain  that  she  deserved.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, till  1606  that  a  colonization  society  was  formed  to  settle 
Virginia,  and  Captain  John  Smith,  with  a  royal  charter  from 
James  I.,  landed  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  colonists  in  May, 
160*7.*  Anglicanism  thus  planted  itself  on  that  shore,  ;ind  every 
new-comer  who  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  royal  supremacy  was 
expelled,  while  most  severe  laws  threatened  with  death  the  priest, 
and  especially  the  Jesuit,  hardy  enough  to  appear  in  Virginia. 

*  Hildreth ,  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  09-185. 


158 


THE  OATHOLIO  OHUROH 


The  hour  for  bearing  the  cross  thither  had  not  struck,  and  the 
first  missionaries  who  appeared  were  the  prisoners  of  Protestant- 
ism. In  1014  two  French  Jesuits,  Father  Peter  Biard  and 
Father  Ennomond  Masse,  having  founded  St.  Saviour's  mission  on 
the  northern  coast,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Maine,  Captain 
xirgal  of  Virginia  destroyed  it  out  of  mere  hatred  of  Catholicity. 
A  Jesuit  brother  was  killed,  and  the  two  Fathers  were  taken  to 
Virginia,  where  the  governor.  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  for  some  time 
deliberated  on  the  propriety  of  consigning  them  to  the  execu- 
tioner to  be  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered. 

Irish  emigrants  who  subsequently  arrived  were  forced  to  leave, 
and  settled  at  Montaerrat  in  the  West  Indies,  long  known  as  an 
Irish  colony.  Sir  George  Calvert  even  was  excluded  from  Vir- 
ginia on  account  of  his  faith,  and  for  that  reason  founded  his 
colony  of  Maryland. 

When  the  Protestants  whom  he  had  admitted  rose  in  1646 
against  their  Catholic  fellow-settlers,  they  seized  all  the  priests 
and  dragged  them  in  chains  to  Virginia,  where  one  of  them  ex- 
pired the  following  year.  Such  were  the  first  relations  of  Vir- 
ginia with  Catholicity  and  its  missionaries;  but  amid  their 
persecutions,  the  pious  Fathers  doubtless  sought  to  extend  around 
them  the  succors  of  religion,  for  some  Catholics  were  even  then 
to  l>e  found  in  Virginia,  chiefly  as  slaves  or  indented  apprentices — 
Irish  men  and  women,  torn  from  their  native  land  and  sold  into 
foreign  bondage. 

After  the  Irish  struggle  in  1641,  and  the  Protestant  triumph 
which  ensued,  the  Irish  Catholics  were  relentlessly  banished,  and 
the  State  documents  of  Cromwell's  time  enable  us  to  reckon  from 
fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  forcibly  transported  to 
America.  The  majority  were  given  to  the  settlers  in  Barbadoes 
and  Jamaica,  but  a  great  number  of  women  and  children  were 
also  sold  in  Virginia,  the  men  having  been  pressed  into  the  Pro- 
tectot^s  navy.    In  1652  the  Commissaries  of  the  Commonwealth 


•^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


159 


ordered  "  Irish  women  to  be  sold  to  merchants  and  shipped  to 
Virginia,"  and  these  unfortunate  females,  reduced  to  the  same 
condition  of  slavery  as  African  negioes,  sank  in  great  numbers 
under  th«  labors  imposed  upon  them  by  their  masters.  At  a 
later  date  jinother  class  of  Irish  increaood  the  laboring  population 
in  Virginia — voluntary  emigrants,  driven  from  home  by  poverty, 
and  too  poor  to  pay  their  passage.  These  bound  themselves  by 
contract  to  service  for  a  term  of  years,  in  order  to  pay  the  vessel. 
They  were  called  Redemptioners. 

The  laws  of  the  colony  oppressed  them  sorely,  end  doubtless 
compelled  many  to  leave  as  soon  as  they  werj  free.  Thus  in 
January,  1041,  it  was  enacted  that  no  Popish  recusant  should, 
under  a  penalty  of  a  thousand  pounds  of  toba^^s  o,  presi;  r«.e  to  hold 
any  oflSce.  In  the  following  year  the  same  statute  wni«,  i  j-enacted, 
and  a  clause  added  r^^quiring  priests  to  leav*<  the  colony  on  five 
days'  notice.  After  this  the  penal  spirit  s^ jtiiij^d  lulled  till  the 
restoration  of  Charles;  then,  in  1661,  all  who  did  not  attend  the 
Protestant  Church  were  made  subject  to  a  fine  of  £20.  The  fall 
of  James  II.  again  called  up  intolerance  in  all  its  rancor.  In 
1699  Virginia  decreed  that  no  Popish  recusrut  should  be  allowed 
to  vote,  and  six  years  later  re-enacted  the  law,  making  five  hun- 
dred pounds  of  tobacco  the  penalty  for  offending  against  it.  Even 
this,  however,  did  not  satiate  the  spirit  of  hatred  with  which  the 
minds  of  men  were  imbued.  They  had  oppressed  the  Catholics ; 
this  was  not  enough.  They  so"f;*ii  means  to  degrade  and  insult 
them,  and  devised  a  plan  which  rated  them  socially  with  their  ne- 
gro slaves.  By  an  act,  unparalleled  in  legislation,  Virginia  in 
1705  declared  Catholics  incompetent  as  witnesses — their  testimony 
could  not  be  taken  in  court.  It  may  be  supposed  that  this  was 
the  act  of  a  moment  of  frenzy :  this  can  hardly  be,  for  nearly  half 
a  century  later  it  was  re-enacted,  and  to  prevent  any  doubt,  the 
words  "in  any  case  whatever"  were  added.  Thus,  men  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  actually  voted  for  the 


I 


160 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


most  prescriptive  of  laws.  The  year  1756,  just  twenty  years  be- 
fore the  close  of  British  rule,  marks  the  last  of  the  penal  acts,  and 
it  is  by  far  the  most  comprehensive.  By  its  terras  the  oath  was 
to  be  tendered  to  Papists ;  they  were  not  to  keep  arms  under  a 
penalty  of  three  months  imprisonment,  the  forfeiture  of  the  arms, 
and  thrice  their  value.  The  informer  was  to  have  as  his  reward 
the  value  of  the  arms ;  and  any  Virginian  high-minded  enough 
not  to  inform  against  his  Catholic  neighbor,  incurred  the  same 
penalties  as  the  latter.  By  the  same  law  no  Catholic  was  per- 
mitted to  own  a  horse  worth  over  £5 ;  and  if  he  did,  and  kept  it 
concealed,  he  was  liable  lo  three  months  imprisonment  and  a  fine 
of  thrice  its  value.*  Thus,  in  colonial  times,  a  Catholic,  in  the 
native  State  of  Washington,  could  not  hold  any  oflBce,  nor  vote, 
nor  keep  arms,  nor  own  a  horse,  nor  even  be  a  witness  in  any 
cause,  civil  or  criminal.  Priests  were  subjected  to  tl  e  penalties 
of  the  English  law.  For  more  than  a  century  the  Catholics  thus 
scattered  among  the  Virginia  plantations  were  deprived  of  reli- 
gious succor,  and  faith  died  out  among  them,  or  at  least  disap- 
peared after  the  first  generation.f 

Meanwhile  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  Maryland  visited  with  great 
zeal  tho  parts  of  Virginia  least  remote  from  their  province,  and 
one  of  the  most  ardent  in  this  laborious  mission  was  Father  John 
Carroll,  the  illustrious  founder  of  the  episcopal  hierarchy  in  the 
United  States.  When  he  resided  at  Rock  Creek  in  Maryland,  in 
1774,  he  visited  once  a  month  the  little  congregation  of  Aquia 


*  Soe  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  i.  268  (1641) ;  ii.  48  (1661) ;  iii.  172 
(1699) ;  id.  288,  299  (17C5) ;  vi.  838  (1758) ;  vii.  87  (1756).  All  these  horri- 
ble enactments  were  abolisheJ  in  October,  1776 ;  id.  ix.  164.  Religious 
freedom  was  established  only  in  1784  (id.  xii.  84) — a  large  party,  supported 
by  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry,  being  in  favor  of  an  established  church. 
Hildreth's  History  of  tho  United  States,  iii.  384. 

+  Some  doubtless  emigrated,  when  able,  to  Maryland  or  other  parts,  so  as 
to  be  within  reach  of  a  priest ;  and  in  the  Life  of  Father  Jogues  we  find  an 
Irishman  from  Virginia  going  to  confession  to  that  holy  martyr,  when  at 
New  York  in  1648. 


J 


yeaij 
his 
visit 
Vird 


t 
bois, 
tainel 


t 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


161 


■*.  i 


I 


Creek,  in  Virginia,  sixty  miles  from  his  residence.  His  two  eldest 
sisters  had  settled  at  Aquia,  having  married  two  Catholics  named 
Brent,  who  had  maintained  their  faith  amid  every  peril,  and 
drawn  other  Catholics  around  them.  This  was  probably  the  first 
organized  parish  in  Virginia,  and  the  name  of  Carroll,  so  eminent 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  Maryland,  has  thus  a  new  title  to 
the  veneration  of  the  faithful. 

About  the  same  time  Father  George  Hunter,  an  Englishman,  left 
his  residence  of  St.  Thomas  Mar- or,  to  cross  the  Potomac,  and  se- 
cretly in  disguise  celebrate  the  holy  mysteries  in  some  Virginian 
cabin.  Father  James  Frambach  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of 
the  Catholics  around  Harper's  Ferry ;  and  one  day  the  mission- 
ary having  been  disct>vered  by  some  Protestants,  owed  his  life 
only  to  the  fleetness  of  his  horse,  which  swam  the  Potomac  amid 
a  shower  of  balls,  which  the  fanatical  Virginians  discharged  on 
the  fugitive  Jesuit.* 

Soon  after,  however,  the  Rev.  John  Dubois,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  New  York,  landed  at  Norfolk  in  July,  1791,  with  letters  of 
recommendation  from  Lafayette  to  the  Randolphs,  Lees,  and 
Beverlys,  to  Jam.es  Monroe  and  Patrick  Henry.  Thus  introduced 
to  the  leading  men  of  Virginia,  he  proceeded  to  Richmond,  and 
for  want  of  a  chapel,  said  Mass  for  the  few  Catholics  of  the  place 
in  the  capitol,  which  was  kindly  placed  at  his  disposal. 

Teaching  for  his  support,  Mr.  Dubois  labored  here  for  several 
years,  and  effected  the  conversion  of  Governor  Lee.  Even  after 
his  removal  to  Frederick,  he  extended  his  regular  missionary 
visits  to  Martinsburg,  Winchester,  and  indeed  to  all  Western 
Virginia.f 

The  Rev.  Dennis  Cahill  also  about  this  time  labored  in  the 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.  171 

t  Ciitliolic  Expositor,  1843,  p.  91.  Discourse  on  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du- 
bois, D.  D.,  by  the  Rev.  John  McCaffrey.  Letter  to  the  Leader  by  a  "  Moun- 
taineer of  1828." 


J 


162 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


neighborhood  of  Martinsburg,  and  was  the  instrument  of  receiv'jg 
into  the  Church  a  family  who  wer>^  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  true  faith  in  a  mode  so  extraordinary  that  we  cannot  avoid 
some  account  of  it. 

About  1779  a  Lutheran  of  German  origin,  Livingston  by  name, 
removed  with  his  family  to  a  place  in  Jefferson  county,  about  fif- 
teen miles  from  Middleway,  still  called  Wizard's  Clip.  Soon  after 
this  his  house  was  haunted  by  a  strange  visitant,  that  burnt  his 
barns,  killed  his  cattle,  broke  his  furniture,  and  cut  his  clothing  all 
to  pieces  in  a  most  cunous  and  remarkable  manner.  He  naturally 
sought  means  to  rid  himself  of  this  annoyance,  and  not  a  few  vol- 
unteered to  deliver  the  house.  The  first  who  came,  however, 
were  soon  put  to  flight  by  the  conduct  of  a  stone,  which  danced 
out  from  the  hearth  and  whirled  around  for  some  time,  to  their 
great  dismay.  A  book  of  common-prayer,  used  by  another  party 
in  conjuring  it,  was  unceremoniously  thrust  into  a  place  of  con- 
tempt. Others  tried  with  as  little  success ;  but  at  last  Livingston 
had  a  dream,  in  which  he  saw  a  Catholic  church,  and  heard  a 
voice  telliug  him  that  the  priest  was  the  ior.n  who  would  relieve 
him.  His  wife  then  persuaded  him  to  send  for  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Cahill,  who  seemed  rather  unwilling  to  go,  but  at  last  yielded, 
and  sprinkled  the  house  with  holy  water,  upon  which  the  noise 
and  annoyance  ceased. 

Livingston  soon  after  visited  a  Catholic  church  at  Shepherds- 
town,  and  recognizing  in  the  officiating  priest  the  person  whom 
he  saw  in  hih  dream,  believed  and  resolved  to  become  a  Catholic. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Cahill  subsequently  said  Mass  -  at  his  house,  but 
Mr.  Livingston  and  his  family  were  instructed  by  a  voice  which 
explained  at  length  the  sacraments  of  Penance  and  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist, prayed  with  them,  and  frequently  exhorted  them  to 
prayer  and  penitential  works.  These  facts  were  notorious,  and 
the  family  were  known  to  be  almost  ignorant  of  English  and 
without  Catholic  books.     The  Rev.  Mr.  Cahill,  Prince  Gallitzin, 


to 
cir 


pr^ 

fu 

ex 

th. 

do 


gel 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


163 


and  his  tutor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brozius,  Father  Pellentz,  and  Bishop 
Carroll  all  investigated  these  occurrences,  which  were  renewed 
during  seventeen  years,  accompanied  even  by  apparitions,  and  all 
considered  them  really  supernatural,  generally  ascribing  them  to 
a  suffering  soul  in  purgatory. 

So  completely  did  Mr.  Livingston  disregard  the  loss  of  his 
temporal  goods  in  consideration  of  the  precious  boon  of  faith 
which  had  been  bestowed  upon  him,  that  like  the  merchant  who, 
seeking  good  pearls  and  finding  one  precious  one,  sold  all  he 
possessed  to  acquire  it,  he  would  have  given  all  to  obtain  it ;  and 
to  show  his  gratitude  to  Almighty  God,  gave  a  lot  of  ground  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Church. 

The  conversions  did  not  cease  with  his  own  family ;  many  of 
the  neighbors  were  also  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  true  faith, 
and  in  one  winter  no  less  than  fourteen  were  converted.  The 
Catholics  were  by  the  same  means  maintained  in  a  more  strict 
observance  of  the  duties  which  religion  enjoins,  and  warned  of 
the  least  neglect. 

Strange  as  these  incidents  may  seem  io  many,  no  facts  are 
better  substantiated,  and  a  full  account  was  drawn  up  by  the 
Rev.  Demetrius  A.  Gallitzin,  who  in  179*7  went  from  Conewago 
to  Livingston's,  and  spent  three  months  in  examining  into  the 
circumstances.  "  My  view  in  coming  to  Virginia,"  says  he,  "  and 
remaining  there  three  months,  was  to  investigate  those  extraordi- 
nary facts  of  which  I  had  heard  so  much,  and  which  I  could  not 
prevail  upon  myself  to  believe ;  but  I  was  soon  converted  to  a 
full  belief  of  them.  No  lawyer  in  a  court  of  justice  ever  did 
examine  or  cross-examine  witnesses  more  strictly  than  I^  did  all 
the  witnesses  I  could  procure.  I  spent  several  days  in  penning 
down  the  whole  account."*     The  very  name  of  Cliptown,  pre- 


*  See  Letters  of  Prince  Gallitzin  iu  the  St.  Louis  Leader  for  Dec.  1, 1855. 
Bee  also  hia  work  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  p.  151. 


164 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


served  to  this  day,  is  a  proof  of  the  facts  which  gave  rise  to  the 


name. 


Bishop  Carroll  was  always  alive  to  the  wants  of  this  early  field 
of  his  labors,  and  as  religion  began  to  be  free  in  Virginia,  em- 
ployed one  or  two  priests  exclusively  on  the  mission  in  that  State ; 
but  they  often  met  severe  trials,  and  in  1816  Rev.  James  Lucas,  a 
French  ecclesiastic,  was  sent  to  Norfolk  to  restore  the  peace  of 
t>i<v  Church,  troubled  by  the  revolt  of  the  trustees,  who,  having 
the  church  property  in  their  hands,  had  called  in  a  bad  priest  to 
officiate.  Mr.  Lucas  hired  a  room,  which  he  transformed  into  a 
chapel.  By  his  prudent  firmness  he  soon  drew  around  him  the 
Catholics,  who  left  the  interdicted  church ;  and  the  trustees,  left 
to  themselves,  at  last  returned  to  the  path  of  duty.f 

When  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  erected  the  nee  of  Charleston,  in 
1820,  for  South  Carolina,  he  at  the  same  time  founded  that  of 
Richmond  for  Virginia,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  was  ap- 
pointed, as  we  have  stated  in  a  previous  chapter ;  but  the  prelate 
never  went  to  Richmond,  where  he  would  not  have  found  means 
of  subsistence,  so  few  and  so  poor  were  the  Catholics  then. 
Bishop  Kelly  remained  at  Norfolk,  and  had  to  open  a  school  to 
support  himself.  A  year  after,  he  was  transferred  to  the  See  of 
Waterford,  in  Ireland,  and  the  administration  of  the  diocese  of 
Richmond  was  confided  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.  In 
1829,  Archbishop  Whitfield  visited  Richmond  and  Norfolk,  and 


:i 


*  Most  of  the  above  details  are  derived  from  a  narrative  preserved  in  the 
,  family  of  a  Catholic  neighbor  of  Livingston,  and  witnesseu  io  the  wVole 
transaction. 

t  The  Rev.  James  Incas  was  born  at  Rennes,  in  l^SS,  and  had  as  his  pro- 
fessor in  theology,  Simon  Brut^,  afterwards  Bishop  of  V  Incennes.  Ordained 
in  1812,  ho  came  to  the  United  States  in  1815,  and  was  almost  immediately 
Bent  to  Norfolk.  Mr.  Lucas  left  that  place  on  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Kelly, 
and  after  being  pastor  of  St.  Peter's,  Washington,  entered  the  Society  of 
Jesiis.  He  died  at  Frederick,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1847,  leaving  the 
reputation  of  a  priest  full  of  zeal  and  piety,  an  untiring  miss*ionary,  an  elo- 
quent preacher,  and  a  learned  theologian.    Catholio  Almanac,  1848,  p.  262. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


165 


] 


i 


in  a  letter,  dated  January  28,  1830,''  gires  an  account  of  his 
journey  through  Virginia.  Only  four  priests  then  resided  in  that 
State,  which  was  unable  to  support  more.  At  Richmond,  amid 
the  wealth  and  luxury  of  the  city,  the  Catholics  had  only  an 
humble  wooden  chapel.  At  Norfolk,  v/here  the  church  was  more 
decent,  the  prelate  confirmed  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  per- 
sons, and  learned  that  the  faithful  numbered  over  six  hundred. 
In  his  letter  of  September  16th,  1832,  Archbishop  Whitfield  an- 
nounces that  he  had  sent  to  Virginia  a  zealous  missionary. 
"  This  priest  has  traversed  the  State ;  he  has  everywhere  found 
the  Protestants  ready  to  hear  him;  they  offered  him  their 
churches,  town-halls,  and  other  public  buildings,  inviting  him  to 
preach  there,  and  this  is  not  surprising.  The  mass  of  the  people, 
divided  into  almost  countless  sects,  now  knows  not  what  to  be- 
lieve ;  and  by  dint  of  wishing  to  judge  for  themselves,  end  by  no 
longer  having  any  idea  what  to  believe  of  the  contradictory  doc- 
trines taught  them ;  the  rich  become  atheists,  deists,  philosophers. 
How  unhappy  it  is  to  be  unable  to  send  missionaries  into  this 
State,  which  is  as  large  as  England  !  There  is  no  doubt  that  if 
we  had  laborers  and  means,  prodigies  would  be  effected  in  that 
vast  and  uncultivated  field."f 

This  progress,  though  slow,  was  real;  and  in  1838  Archbishop 
Eccleston  was  able  to  announce  that  there  were  nine  thousand 
Catholics  in  the  State,  and  that  they  possessed  eight  churches. 
It  was  still  a  very  feeble  rehgious  est.,  llshment;  but  no  mory  is 
needed  in  America  to  begin  a  diocese,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
bulls  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Vincent  Whelan, 
born  at  Baltimore  ^v,  the  28th  of  January,  1809,  was  consecrated 
in  his  native  city  Bishop  of  Rich'  icnd  on  the  21st  o^  Yarch,  1841. 
The  new  prelate  made  great  sacrifices  to  open  a  o:  jesan  semi- 
nary ;  and  the  commencement  seemed  to  justify  his  hopes.     On 


'%i 


*  Annales  do  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  245.  t  Idem,  v.  721. 


m**MJLi 


166 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


the  1st  of  January,  1842,  he  conferred  minor  orders  at  Richmond, 
and  the  following  year  six  pious  young  men  receivcl  tl.'e  toiisure 
at  his  hands.  But  in  lipite  of  the  services  rendered  to  the  dioc.^se 
by  this  seminary,  the  exj^ense  was  too  great  for  the  pr^ef^'le's  ftiebie 
resources,  and  in  1846  Bishop  Whelan  rt^olved  to  clo^^e  it,  f'nd 
send  the  young  levites,  destined  lO  the  puestliood,  to  Ireland  or 
Baltimore.  Before  his  consecration  the  Bishop  of  liichmond  had 
installed  three  Sisters  of  C.h;irity,  Iroia  Emmitsburg,  in  his  parish 
of  Martinsburg.  He  soon  confided  to  therr  an  c  vphan  asj^lx.iit  ut 
J^ichmcnd  and  a  ichooi  at  Norfolk;  this  l-tst  dty  especially  con- 
soled \y-ui.  :iud  he  several  times  visited  it  to  c(»afirm  la^w  ccn verts 
to  the  l.utli,  Rich.mo/j.vl  did  not,  however,  offer  the  same  re- 
sources, and  m  16 IG  Bishop  Whelan  resolved  to  fix  his  residence 
at  Vv  J!oeiii)g,  .jhere  the  Catholic  population  vvas  becoming  more 
important.  The  great  distance  of  the  two  cities  from  each  other 
made  it,  however,  desirable  that  Richmond  should  not  be  de- 
prived of  the  presence  of  a  bishop.  The  Fathers  of  the  seventh 
CouLcil  of  Baltimore  accordingly,  in  1849,  asked  that  Virginia 
should  be  divided  into  two  dioceses.  The  Holy  See  consented, 
and  by  a  bull  of  July  23j  1850,  transferred  Bishop  Whelan  to  the 
vSee  of  Wheeling^  as  he  had  wished,  and  called  the  Rev.  John 
McGill  to  the  See  of  Richmond,  which  now  comprised  all  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  State.  This  prelate  is  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  acquired  a  reputation  for  science  and  eloquence  at 
Louisville,  where  he  was  Ivu^  pastor,  and  where  he  publi.^hed 
several  controversial  and  theological  works.  At  the  present  i/ne 
(1855)  the  diocese  of  Richmond  contains  eleven  churches,  tea 
ecclesiastics,  and  a  popniation  of  about  nine  thousand  Catholics. 
"Wheeling  was  so  called  after  a  Catholic  priest  of  the  name  of 
Whelan,  who,  at  the  beginning  of  the  centin\-,  N'jiiciated  in  West- 
ern Pennsylvonia  and  Virginia,  and  who  1  :•  '^  by  baptism  re- 
lieved a  chi  :  yhom.  all  regarded  as  ^  *"f  d,  the  father  of  the 
child  gave  tile  name  of  Whelan  to   m  >    ov/n.     Catholicity  has 


bu 


th< 
ph 


1 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


167 


not,  however,  advanced  very  rapidly  in  this  section  of  the  country ; 
and  at  the  present  time  the  diocese  of  Wheeling  contains  twelve 
churches,  ten  priests,  and  seven  thousand  Catholics.  In  1848, 
eight  Sisters  of  the  Visitation  from  Maryland  opened  a  convent 
and  boarding-school  at  Wheeling,  and  in  1853  a  hospital  was 
founded  there  by  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  from  St.  Louis,  whose 
institute  was  originally  founded  at  Puy,  in  1650. 

The  faith,  it  is  evident,  is  still  weak  in  Virginia,  a  State  in 
which,  according  to  the  census  of  1850,  there  was  a  population 
of  one  million  four  hundred  and  twentv-oue  thousand  inhabitants, 
five  hundred  and  twenty-seven  thousand  of  whom  are  colored. 
This  is  because  the  Irish  emigration  turns  away  from  a  country 
where  slavery  renders  free  labor  of  no  advantage  to  the  mechanic 
or  laborer ;  while  we  see  in  the  sequel  of  our  sketch  how  Catho- 
licity develops  itself  in  the  North  and  West.  Virginia  will  be 
still  for  a  considerable  time  one  of  the  least  favored  States  in  the 
Union  in  CatboHc  institutions;  but,  thanks  to  the  wonders  of  in- 
dustry and  of  modern  science,  the  few  priests  of  Richmond  and 
Wheeling  suffice  to  impart  religious  succor  to  the  faithful  scat- 
tered over  the  vast  surface  of  the  State.  Little  reflection  is  given, 
as  far  as  we  know,  to  the  services  which  the  electric  telegraph 
and  railroads  render  to  religion ;  and  yet  these  services  are  quite 
real  in  all  the  extent  of  America.  If  a  sick  man  be  in  danger  of 
«?oath,  his  relatives  hasten  to  send  a  dispatch  to  the  nearest  priest, 
who  is  often  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  miles  from  them.  He 
in  turn  takes  the  first  train  to  go  to  the  dying  who  calls  for  the 
consolation  of  the  faith,  and  the  poor  can  be  counted  by  thou- 
sands who  would  be  otherwise  deprived  of  the  last  sacraments, 
but  icy  the  precious  resources  of  the  magnetic  telegraph.  Thus 
i'iVi  greatest  geniuses  are  unwittingly  the  instruments  of  Provi- 
dence, cvud  Piofessor  Morse  hardlj'  supposed,  when  meditating  on 
the  utility  of  hie  telegraph,  that  in  a  host  of  circumstances  he 
placed  confession  within  the  reach  of  the  dying. 


168 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


•a'^ 


But  we  cannot  close  ihis  brief  notice  of  Catholicity  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Richmond  without  alluding  to  the  labors  and  services  of 
some  of  the  more  eminent  clergymen  who  have  toiled  in  extend- 
ing Cfltholicity  in  the  Old  Dominion,  and  whom  we  have  not  yet 
had  occasion  to  name.  From  1829  to  1836,  though  the  cholera 
twice  ravaged  his  extended  parish  and  thrice  prostrated  him,  the 
Rev.  John  B.  Gildea  labored  with  the  most  commendable  zeal  and 
beneficial  results  in  Martinsburg,  Harper's  Ferry,  and  other  places, 
completing  two  churches  and  erecting  one  other.  Zealous,  espe- 
cially for  the  diffusion  of  a  knowledge  of  our  doctrines,  he  did  all 
in  his  power  to  disseminate  short  popular  explanations,  and  subse- 
quently was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Catholic  Tract  Society. 

But  the  most  illustrious  of  the  Virginian  clergy  was  the  Rev. 
Francis  Devlin,  a  martyr  of  churity  during  the  yellow  fever  which 
made  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  a  desert  in  1855.  Mr.  Devlin  had 
just  been  assailed  by  a  slanderer  in  the  public  papers,  and  Catho- 
licity, in  the  persons  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  had  been  assailed 
by  a  romantic  girl  and  her  crafty  advisers  An  example  was 
needed  of  what  Catholicity  was  in  the  hour  of  trial.  Mr.  Devlin 
refuted  the  slanders  of  the  enemies  of  truth  by  his  faithful  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  a  good  shepherd,  who,  when  the  hireling 
flieth  because  he  is  a  hireling,  remains  and  lays  down  his  life  for 
his  flock.  From  the  first  moment  of  the  appearance  of  the  epi- 
demic, he  was  unwearied  in  his  exertions,  bearing  alike  temporal 
and  spiritual  succor  to  the  poor.  By  his  appeals  he  stimulated 
the  charity  of  Catholics  in  other  parts,  and  <lrew  several  Jesuit 
Fathers  from  Georgetown  to  aid  him.  Night  and  day  he  was 
beside  the  sick,  especially  the  poorest  and  most  deserted.  When 
no  other  was  there  to  relieve  them,  he  performed  all  the  duties  of 
a  nurse,  arranging  their  beds,  bringing  from  his  dwelling  soups 
and  drinks  which  he  had  made.  At  length  he  was  himself 
stricken  down,  but  though  timely  aid  brok^'  the  fever,  he  could 
not  bear  to  lie  .m  his  couch  while  others  wer^       ing;  before  he 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


169 


had  recovered  be  was  again  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  and  laid 
down  his  life  on  the  9th  of  October,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  ag^. 
In  the  same  month  the  rights  of  the  confessional  were  brought 
before  th^  tribunals  of  Virginia,  as  they  had  nearly  fifty  years 
previous'/  before  those  of  New  York,  and  with  a  like  result.    A 
man  n'-med  John  Cronin,  impelled  by  jealousy,  gave  his  wife  a 
deadl'  wound.    The  Very  Rev.  John  Teeling,  a  Catholic  clergy- 
man wf  Richmond,  who  attended  her  on  her  death-bed,  was  called 
as  a  fitness  on  the  trial  before  the  Superior  Court,  and  asked  the 
subfviince  of  her  sacramental  confession  to  him.    This  he  modestly 
but  firmly  declined.     "  Any  statement,  made  in  her  sacramental 
confession,  whether  inculpatory  or  exculpatory  of  the  prisoner,  I 
am  not  at  liberty  to  reveal."    The  question  was  again  and  again 
put  in  various  forms,  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Teeling  refused  as  before, 
and  at  last,  in  a  short  address,  explained  to  the  Court  his  motives 
and  the  obligation  of  secrecy  which  the  Church  imposes  on  con- 
fessors.   His  statement  was  listened  to  with  the  utmost  att/Cntion, 
and  made  an  evident  impression  on  all  presont.    The  question  then 
came  up  whether  a  proper  foundation  h»d  been  iJ. '  ior  the  intro- 
duction of  the  woman's  declaration  iu  confession  a^  a  <iying  decla- 
ration.   Judge  John  A.  Meredith,  wlio  presided,  decided  in  the 
negative  ;  but  as  the  question  had  been  raised,  gave  his  opinion  on 
the  admissibility  of  the  confersion,  and  decided  against  it.     "  I 
regard,"  says  the  Judge,  "  any  infringement  upon  the  tenets  of  any 
denomination  as  a  violation  of  the  fundamental  law,  which  guaran- 
tees perfect  freedom  to  all  classes  in  the  exercise  of  their  Wiligion. 
To  encroach  upon  the  confessional,  which  '::  v.  •  il  understood  to 
be  regarded  as  a  fundamental  tenet  in  tne  Catholic  Church, 
would  be  to  ignore  the  Bill  of  Rights,  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to 
that  Church     In  view  of  these  circumstances,  as  well  as  of  other 
considerations  connected  with  the  subject,  I  feel  no  hesitation  in 
ruling  that  a  priest  enjoys  a  pri'.nlege  of  exemption  from  revealing 
what  is  communicatocl  to  him  in  the  confessional." 

8 


:"M. 


170 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  Xir. 


DIOOSaiB   OF   BALTIMORE — (1840-1846). 

Decrees  as  to  eocleslnsticAl  property— Fillh  Council  u'.'  Balttmore — Decrees  against  di- 
vorce and  mixed  marriages— Subdivision  of  the  dioceses— Sixth  Coanoli  of  Baltimore 
— Decre»  aa  to  the  Immaculate  Couception — Labors  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  the 
United  Slates. 

One  of  the  most  important  decrees  of  the  fourth  Council  of 
Baltimore  bore  upon  church  property,  and  laid  down  rules  for  its 
preservation.  The  question  of  the  possession  and  administration 
of  tbo  churches  is  one  of  unequalled  gravity.  It  has  subjected 
religion  in  the  United  Stat-es,  since  the  emancipation  of  the  Cath- 
oHcs,  to  innumerable  trials ;  it  has  produced  periodical  schisms — 
fortunately,  however,  only  local  and  partial,  but  not  pacified  with- 
out great  scandal;  it  has  given  the  bigoted  majorities  in  the 
State  governments  a  pretext  for  interfering  in  the  aflFairs  of  the 
Church,  and  is  an  imminent  cause  of  serious  forebodings  for  the 
future. 

From  the  fundamental  principle  of  absolute  liberty  of  worship 
and  the  separation  of  Chuich  and  State,  it  would  seera  that  the 
Catholic  religion  should  be  invested  with  the  right  of  administer- 
ing and  post;386ing  property  according  to  the  prescriptious  of  the 
sacred  canons.  Protestant  tolerance  has  never,  however,  gone  so 
far  as  to  grant  the  Churcl  this  essential  franchise ;  and  at  all 
times  civil  laws  have  f*  ered  the  free  development  of  the  faith  or 
multiplied  the  seeds  ul  revo  i  in  the  bosom  of  Catholic  bodies. 
The  progress  of  religion,  watched  with  a  jealous  eye,  has  made 
them  take  back  with  one  hand  what  they  proffered  with  the 
other ;  and  the  pretended  equality  which  they  professed  to  estab- 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


171 


\^ 


lish  in  the  eye  of  tho  law  betwcon  Catholicity  and  other  religious 
denominations  is  itself  a  danger,  because  it  tends  to  Protestantize 
the  Church  by  putting  it  into  the  congregationalist  hands  of  the 
laity. 

For  liberty  of  worship  to  be  in  all  points  u  reality,  the  Church 
must  be  considered  as  a  civil  person  for  the  possession  of  the 
property  which  it  owes  to  the  charity  of  the  faithful  and  of  the 
necessary  edifices  for  the  accomplishment  of  its  ceremonies.  It 
would  be  necessary  that  the  security  of  its  title  should  not  be  in- 
validated or  compromised  by  the  death  of  an  individual,  or  by  an 
error  of  form  in  a  deed  or  will.  This  result  would  be  obtained  if 
the  bishop,  the  supreme  authority  in  the  diocese,  were  incorpo- 
rated as  bishop  with  the  right  of  transmitting  to  his  successors 
the  goods  of  the  Church ;  or  else,  if  the  body  of  the  clergy,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  bishop,  formed  this  civil  person  ;  or,  lastly,  if 
each  pastor  became  ex-officio  invested  with  the  nominal  property 
of  the  church  which  he  serves — a  property  which  belongs  in 
reahty  to  the  faithful  for  whose  religious  wants  it  has  been  built. 
For  seventy  years  the  bishops  of  the  United  States  have  sought, 
with  a  perseverance  undaunted  by  defeat,  to  obtain  these  guaran- 
tees from  the  justice  of  each  State ;  for  these  questions  fall  within 
the  cognizaLoe  of  the  several  State  Legislatures.  They  have, 
however,  generally  failed,  and  Catholics  are  invariably  sent  back 
to  the  common  law,  and  accused  of  the  high  crime  of  not  being 
satisfied  with  what  is  good  enough  for  Protestants. 

Now  this  common  law,  that  Jiii  property  set  apart  for  worship 
be  possessed  and  administered  by  a  Board  of  Trustees,  appointed 
by  a  general  election  of  the  lay  members  of  the  creed,  and  re- 
newed by  the  same  process  by  general  election — this  system, 
essentially  Congregationalist,  may  suit  the  thousand  sects  of  Pro- 
testantism, where  the  people,  the  grand  depositaries  of  dogma  and 
doctrine,  should  also  hold  the  deposit  of  the  church  buildings ; 
but  it  is  repugnant  to  the  very  organization  of  Catholicity,  where 


■••OfT^.:     THTT 


172 


THK  CATHOLIC   CHUIUJH 


tJie  head  governs  the  members  instead  of  being  governed  by  them. 
Yet,  in  the  first  forty  years  of  this  century,  the  American  hie- 
rarchy quite  frequently  accepted  this  false  position,  and  many 
churches  were  incorporated  under  the  name  of  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees. But  the  lay  administration  has,  for  the  most  part,  produced 
only  trouble  and  scandal.  The  trustees,  instead  of  remaining  in 
their  legal  sphere,  invaded  the  spiritual  domain ;  they  wished  to 
assume  a  deliberative  voice  in  the  election  of  the  pastor,  and  even 
of  the  bishop ;  they  have,  moreover,  in  many  cases,  compromised 
the  honor  and  sanctity  of  religion  by  personal  speculations,  by 
unreasonable  debts  and  shameful  bankruptcies.  After  desperate 
struggles  and  prolonged  schisms — after  embarrassments  which 
have  shortened  by  grief  the  lives  of  several  bishops — after  the  ex- 
communication of  several  Boards  of  Trustees  and  the  interdiction 
of  their  churches,  the  bishops  were  at  last  compelled  to  remove 
religion  in  future  from  the  perils  of  this  system,  and  the  only 
means  of  escaping  it  has  been  to  take  in  their  own  name  the  title 
of  the  religious  property  of  the  diocese.  As  to  churches  or  con- 
vents belonging  to  European  or  American  religious  orders,  the 
title  remains  in  the  local  Superior,  and  is  transferred  by  him  to 
his  successor  in  authority. 

This  system,  imposed  upon  the  bishops  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances, is  not  exempt  from  danger.  Without  assumiftg  the 
doubtless  impossible  case  of  a  prelate  appropriating  to  his  own 
use  property  devoted  to  the  exercise  of  worship,  it  may  happen 
that  a  bishop  should  die  v/ithout  making  a  will,  or  what  is  tanta- 
mount, a  valid  will,  or  a  legal  heir  lay  claim  to  property,  the 
special  nature  of  which  is  nowise  guaranteed  by  law.  To  remedy 
these  grave  difficuUies  and  this  precarious  situation,  the  Sacred 
Congregailou  of  the  Propaganda,  interpreting  and  developing  the 
eighth  decree  of  the  fourth  Council  of  Baltimore,  issued  the  de- 
cree of  December  J.5tb,  1840,  on  the  preservation  of  church 
property. 


tffe>i 


^4 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


•17C 


It  is  there  laid  down  that  the  duty  of  every  archbishop  and 
bishop  requires  him  to  prepare  a  will  in  the  legal  form  rciiuiicd 
in  the  State  in  which  they  reside,  auct  thereby  to  bequeath  all 
the  property  of  the  church  to  one  of  the  bishops  of  the  province, 
naming  a  second  episcopal  legatee  in  case  of  the  death  or  default 
of  the  first.  These  wills  should  be  executed  in  duplicate,  one  of 
which  is  to  be  kept  in  the  archives  of  the  diocese,  the  other  sent 
to  the  archbishop.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  metropolitan  to  see  that 
these  instruments  are  drawn  up  in  the  least  litigious  terms,  in- 
vested with  all  legal  formalities ;  and  he  shall  also  receive  all  the 
wills  made  by  the  superiors  of  religious  communities,  advising  the 
testator  of  such  corrections  as  for  greater  security  it  may  seem  to 
him  proper  to  suggest  in  these  important  instruments.  On  the 
death  of  a  bishop  the  devisee  put  in  possession  shall  send  the 
vicar-general  of  the  deceased  a  power  of  attorney  to  administer ; 
and  on  the  canonical  election  of  a  new  bishop,  the  latter  shall  re- 
ceive a  transfer  in  his  own  name  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  property 
possessed  by  his  predecessor.  The  decree  required  also,  that  if, 
within  three  months,  each  bishop  did  not  deposit  hit  l-  in  the 
hands  of  his  metropolitan,  it  should  be  referred  to  tL  ?  Hriy  Con- 
gregation of  the  Propa^PTida.  But  in  the  fifth  Coun^  I  of  1  ''Iti- 
more  the  Ame'^c^u  prelates  asked  the  Holy  Sp°  ^o  r.iiiijyntp  1L  : 
rigor  of  this  clause,  and  it  was  deemed  less  indispeni..ihle,  m;h  \.  d\y 
bishop  was  better  aware  of  the  wisdom  of  the  regulatior.* 

Establishments  of  education,  colleges,  universities,  and  board- 
ing-schools for  young  ladies  are,  in  the  United  States,  under  a 
legislation  quite  different  from  that  of  churches,  and  are  thus 
saved  from  the  dangera  which  threaten  the  latter.  The  States 
generally,  without  much  difiiculty,  incorporate  these  houses,  and 
the  property  is  then  possessed  by  the  faculty,  composed  of  the 
president  and  principal  oflScers  of  the  college  or  institution,  and 


*  Concilia  Proviacialia  Baltimori  habita,  pp.  172, 198,  210. 


174 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


sometimes  of  friends,  who  are  from  time  to  time  elected  as  trus- 
tees. Many  colleges,  directed  by  the  Jesuits  and  other  orders  or 
societies,  are  thus  held.  *  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  has, 
however,  pertinaciously  refused  to  incorporate  the  Jesuit  college 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  at  Worcester,  although  it  fulfils  every  condi- 
tion required;  and  that  State,  the  cradle  of  Puritanism  in 
America,  the  actual  centre  of  infidelity  and  arianism,  is  distin- 
guished now,  as  in  1620,  by  fanaticism  and  intolerance. 

The  prudence  of  the  bishops  and  of  the  Holy  See  having  re- 
moved or  banished  the  fatal  ferment  which  Protestantism  so 
adroitly  endeavored  to  infuse  into  the  discipline  of  the  Church, 
the  enemies  of  religion  sought  new  modes  to  attain  their  end ; 
Catholics  are  incessantly  stimulated  by  the  countless  voice  of  the 
press,  the  pulpit,  and  the  platform,  to  revolt  against  their  pastors. 
The  amount  of  property  held  by  the  bishops  is  estimated ;  and 
on  one  side  designing  men  endeavor  to  alarm  Protestants  at  the 
immense  power  which  monopolizing  prelates — masters  of  the  soil 
and  slaves  of  Rome — acquire,  so  that,  in  their  eyeb,  it  y  ill  be  the 
Pope  who  will  control  vast  domains  in  free  America !  On  the 
other  hand,  they  pretend  to  commiserate  the  hard  lot  of  Catho- 
lics, who  submit  to  a  thousand  privations  in  order  to  build 
churches,  and  are  then  subject  to  see  the  houses  of  their  worship 
enriching  the  heirs  of  their  bishops.  These  perfidious  insinua- 
tions, repeated  usque  ad  nauseam,  exercise  little  influence  on  the 
majority  of  the  faithful.  Within  the  last  few  years  most  Boards 
of  Trustees  have  voluntarily  dissolved  and  asked  to  transfer  their 
title  of  the  churches  to  the  bishops ;  those  who  still  act  have,  in 
general,  lost  the  congregationalist  spirit  which  formerly  animated 
them,  and  keep  pretty  exactly  within  their  legitimate  sphere  ot 
duty  and  rights.  Except  at  St.  Louis  Church,  in  Buffalo,  no  schism, 
we  believe,  has  afflicted  the  Church  in  1855.  The  Catholics, 
better  instructed  than  formerly,  have  lost  much  of  their  propen- 
sity to  revolt,  and,  advancing  in  piety,  have  gained  confidence  in 


f 


I 


{' 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


175 


^4 


their  Dastors  and  veneration  for  their  character.  But  the  Pro- 
testant portion  of  the  people  have  raised  the  cry  of  alarm ;  they 
have  beheld  themselves  inundated  by  a  torrent  of  Romanianiy 
handed  over  to  the  Pope,  the  Inquisition,  the  Jesuits ;  and  the 
rallying  cry  of  American  Free  Masonry,  known  as  Know-Nothing- 
ism,  is  the  restoration  of  Trusteeism  as  a  means  of  destroying 
Catholicity.  The  Legislature  of  New  Yot\  has  already  (1865) 
passed  a  law  declaring  that  no  devise,  bequest,  or  donation  for  re- 
ligious purposes  shall  be  valid  unless  made  to  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, and  authorizing  the  State  authorities  to  seize  the  property 
if  ihe  congregation  will  not  elect  trustees.  The  Pennsylvania 
Legislature  also  introduced  a  law  menacing  Catholic  church 
property,  and  these  preliminary  steps  are  only  the  mutterings  of 
the  tempest  which  threatens  the  Church. 

The  fifth  Council  of  Baltimore  met  on  the  14th  of  May,  1843. 
Sixteen  bishops  took  part  in  the  deliberations,  and  one  of  the 
most  important  decrees  is  that  which  pronounces  the  penalty  of 
excommunication  ipso  facto  against  ihose  who,  after  obtaining  a 
civil  divorce,  pretend  to  contract  a  second  marriage.  So  tolerant 
is  public  opinion  in  the  United  States  of  such  unions,  that  it  is 
indispensable  to  warn  Catholics  by  the  severest  threats.  If  the 
Church  has  for  eighteen  centuries  done  so  much  to  sanctify  mar- 
riage and  destroy  poh'gamy.  Protestantism  has  for  three  hundred 
years  labored  in  the  opposite  direction  to  loosen  the  conjugal  tie ; 
and  where  its  errors  predominate  it  has,  unfortunately,  succeeded 
but  too  well.  In  the  very  outset  of  the  pretended  reformation, 
Luther  authorized  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  to  take  two  wi'>  es ; 
and  bigamy  under  another  name  exists  in  America,  where  niany 
marry  again  immediately  after  getting  a  divorce.  These  legal 
dissolutions  of  marriage  are  becoming  more  and  more  irequent ; 
and  from  statistical  calculations,  based  on  newspapers  and  pe- 
riodicals, we  ascertain  approximately  that  in  the  United  Stater-, 
out  of  a  population  of  twenty-four  millions,  ten  thousand  marriagea 


1* 


176 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


are  annually  set  aside,  so  that  every  year  twenty  thousand  indi- 
viduals obtain  the  right  of  living  in  legal  adultery.  This  is  not 
all.  While  divorce  is  thus  authorized  by  the  most  rigiv '  sects, 
other  sects  have  no  scruple  in  going  further.  The  Perfect  onists 
preach  a  community  of  wives,  and  put  it  in  practice  in  their  great 
phalanstery  at  Oneida.  The  Skaneateles  adopt  a  medium  be- 
tween the  Perfectionists  and  the  Mormons,  and  keep  only  one  wife 
as  long  as  it  suits  them  not  to  change.  Finally,  the  Mormons 
openly  recommend  polygamy,  and  their  great  prophet,  Brigham 
Young,  has  no  less  than  fifty  wives.  All  these  resort  to  the  Bible 
to  justify  their  practices,  and  the  principle  of  private  judgment 
deprives  our  more  respectable  separated  brethren  of  any  authority 
to  combat  depravity  thus  hypocritically  assuming  the  cloak  of 
religion  to  impose  on  the  vulgar. 

It  is  incontestable  that  many  of  the  patriarchs  were  not  monog- 
amists ;  and  when  men  reject  the  tradition  and  authority  of  the 
Church,  they  have  no  arms  to  repel  the  most  criminal  ideas  and 
shameful  acts.  Yet  Protestantism  has  still  some  steps  lower  to 
go  before  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  abyss  of  license  which  pri- 
vate interpretation  has  dug  beneath  their  feet.  They  began  by 
condemning  Christian  celibacy ;  they  then  proclaimed  divorce ; 
they  have  now  got  to  polygamy.  To-morrow  we  may  see  the 
Mormons  resorting  to  mutilation  to  secure  guards 'to  their  harems. 
And,  in  fact,  as  the  rich  and  privileged  class  monopolize  for  them- 
selves the  women  of  Utah,  they  must  adopt  oriental  usages  to 
protect  the  virtue  of  their  sultanas.  Some  good  men  are  alarmed 
lest  the  Eastern  question  should  defer  the  complete  decomposition 
of  Islamism,  and  believe  that  there  is  more  truth  in  the  heretic 
most  removed  from  Catholic  truth  than  in  the  best  Mussulman. 
We  must  F.V0W  that  we  cannot  see  how  much  Christianity  is  left 
in  the  millions  of  Americans  who  belong  to  no  church,  who  are  not 
even  baptized,  and  who  are  more  completely  severed  Trom  us  than 
the  Mohammedans,  for  the  latter,  by  the  sign  of  circumcision,  are 


# 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


177 


0 


connected  with  the  practices  of  the  Israelites,  our  ancestors  in  the 
faith.  K  polygamy  is  decreasing  at  Constantinople,  it  is  develop- 
ing itself  fearfully  on  the  banks  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  and  the 
custom  of  divorce,  in  all  the  States,  is  a  sad  step  to  more  serious 
infractions  of  God's  laws.  K  slavery  is  maintained  in  Turkey,  it 
is  not  less  rooted  in  the  institutions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  If 
in  the  East,  Mahomet  is  honored  as  a  prophet,  Joe  Smith,  Miller, 
Brigham  Young,  are  venerated  in  the  United  States  as  envoys  of 
God.  Deplorable  moral  degradation,  which  forms  a  sad  contrast 
withfthe  progress  of  material  civilization  and  the  wonders  of  in- 
dustry in  the  best  organized  republic  in  the  world ! 

The  Catholics  in  the  United  States,  faithful  to  the  laws  of  the 
Church,  seldom  avail  themselves  of  the  facility  afforded  for  the 
satisfaction  of  their  passions  by  American  legislation.  And  in 
such  cases  they  cease  to  be  Catholics ;  but  by  marriage  with  Pro- 
testants, the  Catholic  may  be  placed  in  a  state  of  divorce,  and 
this  is  not  one  of  the  least  dangers  of  these  ill-assorted  unions. 
The  Council  of  Baltimore,  accordingly,  have  not  failed  to  disap- 
prove decidedly  mixed  marriages,  and  to  dissuade  Catholics  from 
tliom,  while  decrees  endeavor  to  protect  the  faith  of  the  Catholic 
and  that  of  all  the  future  children.  Unfortunately  the  wise  pre- 
scriptions of  the  bistiops,  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See,  are  not 
understood  as  they  deserve  to  be  ;*  and  we  must  say  that  mixed 
marriages  are  still  frequent  in  the  United  States,  where,  as  else- 
where, they  affect  the  purity  of  the  faith.  Their  infallible  result 
is  first  to  call  in  doubt  the  Ca'holic  dogma ;  "  Out  of  the  Church 
no  salvation."  A  mother  and  children  cannot  resign  themselves 
to  the  belief  that  their  father  will  not  bo  saved,  and  they  easily 
oome  to  imagine  that  all  religions  are  good.     Moreover,  from  in- 


*  Ihe  sixteenth  statute  of  the  Diocesan  Synod  of  1791,  the  first  decree  of 
the  fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  and  the  letter  of  the  Congregation 
of  the  Propaganda,  of  July  8, 1847,  lay  down  very  severe  rules  on  tho  subject 
of  mixed  marriages.  , 

8* 


( 


It ' 


178 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


cessaut  controversy,  the  Catholic  husband  or  wife,  often  unin- 
structed,  makes  prodigious  concessions,  imagining  a)l  the  while 
that  they  remain  true  to  the  faith.  Mixed  marriages  lead  natu- 
rally to  the  mingling  of  Catholics  and  Protestants  in  society.  In 
a  new  country,  where  the  arts  are  but  little  developed,  where 
commerce  augments  fortunes,  but  not  ideas,  conversation  has  not 
the  field  it  finds  elsewhere ;  and  in  the  commonplace  of  the  parlor, 
religious  conversation  occupies  no  inconsiderable  space.  In  these 
tilts  of  heresy,  full  of  arguments  and  prejudices  against  faltering 
truth,  the  victory  is  often  obtained  by  error ;  and  we  have  heard 
a  lady,  thinking  herself  a  good  Catholic,  and  approaching  the 
Sacraments,  avow  to  her  Protestant  antagonists  that  she  believed 
neither  in  the  real  presence  nor  in  eternal  punishment.  liong 
observation  in  the  United  States  has  convinced  us  of  the  danger 
of  mixed  marriages,  even  if  we  had  not  the  decrees  of  the  Church 
to  convince  us  on  the  point.  We  have  seldom  seen  these  mar- 
riages followed  by  the  conversion  of  the  Protestant  party ;  more 
frequently  do  they  entail  the  perversion  of  the  Catholic.  The 
promise  given  as  to  the  religion  of  the  children  unborn  is  inces- 
santly infringed ;  and  if  we  admire  the  wisdom  of  the  Church  in 
its  repugnance  for  mixed  mannages,  we  regret  that  the  haiduesa 
of  the  times  does  not  permit  her  to  prohibit  them  completely. 

The  happy  progress  of  religion,  ascertained  by  the  Fathers  of 
the  fifth  Council,  induced  them  to  ask  a  new  subdivision  of  dio- 
ceses ;  and  in  consequence,  the  bishops  renewed  the  proposition 
for  the  erection  of  au  episcopal  See  at  Pittsburg  for  W^ostern 
Pennsylvania,  at  the  same  time  that  they  solicited  the  foundation 
of  other  Sees — at  Chicago  for  the  State  of  Illinois,  at  Milwaukie 
for  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  at  Little  Rock  for  the  State  of  Arkan- 
sas, and  at  Hartford  for  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island. 

The  Holy  See  acceded  to  the  proposition,  and  by  letters  of 
September  30th,  1843,  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda 
transmitted  the  Pontifical  briefs  appointing  the  Rt.  Rf  v  Andiew 


I 


'.jjn 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES, 


179 


' 


Byrne  to  the  bishopric  of  Little  Rock ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  William 
Quarter  to  the  See  of  Chicago ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  William  Tyler  to 
the  See  of  Hartford ;  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  M.  Henni  to  tue 
bishopric  of  Milwaukie.  At  the  same  time,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Ignatius 
Reynolds  was  called  to  the  See  of  Charleston,  then  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Bishop  Eugland.  And  Rome  granted  coadjutors  to  the 
Bishop  of  New  York,  in  the  person  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
McCloskey,  and  to  the  Bishop  of  Boston,  in  the  person  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick.  The  nomination  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Mi- 
chael O'Connor  to  the  See  of  Pittsburg  took  place  on  the  7th  of 
August,  1843,  and  that  prelate,  being  then  at  Rome,  was  conse- 
crated in  the  eternal  city  on  the  15th  of  August  in  the  same 
year.* 

The  sixth  Council  of  Baltimore  assembled  on  the  10th  of  May, 
1846.  Twenty-three  bishops  took  part  in  its  deliberations,  and 
the  first  decree  was  to  choose  the  "Blessed  Virgin  conceived 
without  sin"  as  the  Patroness  of  the  United  States.  The  Fathers 
of  the  Council  thus  honored  the  Immaculate  Conception  with  an 
ardent  and  unanimous  voice.  "  Ardentibus  votis  plausu  consen- 
suQue  unanimV  And  this  solemn  declaration  might  even  then 
convince  the  holy  Fathers  of  the  aspirations  of  the  Church  for  the 
dogmatic  definition  of  the  glorious  privilege  of  the  Mother  of 
God.  The  devotion  of  the  faithful,  moreover,  for  the  Immaculate 
Conception  is  not  a  thing  of  to-day  in  North  America.     It  goes 

*  Concilia  Baltitnoriensia,  227. 

Micliael  O'Connor,  born  at  Cork,  in  Ireland,  on  the  29th  of  February,  1810 ; 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  at  Rome,  Aug.  15,  1818. 

Andrew  Byrne,  born  at  Cavan,  Ireland,  December  5,  1802;  conseci*ated 
Bishop  of  Little  Rock,  at  New  York,  March  10,  1844. 

William  Quarter,  born  in  King's  county,  Ireland,  January  81, 1806 ;  con- 
secrated (with  the  last)  Bishop  of  Chicago  ;  died  at  Chicago  April  10,  1848 

William  T>ler,  born  at  l>«rby,  Vermont,  June  5,  1806;  consecrated  Bishop 
of  Hartford,  at  Baltimore,  March  17,  1844;  died  at  Providence,  June  18, 
1849. 

Jolm  M  Henni,  born  at  Obersaxony,  Switzerland,  and  oonaeorated  BiBho)) 
of  Milwaukie  at  Cincinnati,  March  19, 1844. 


o-^r 


liti 


,ii 


r 


180 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


back  to  the  eailiest  days  of  its  discovery ;  and  the  ship  which 
bore  Columbus  to  the  New  World  was  the  St.  Mary  of  the  Con- 
ception ;  the  second  island  which  he  discovered  was  called  "  La 
Concepcion."     In  the  North,  Champlain,  the  founder  of  Quebec, 
in  1615  dedicated  under  that  tide  the  little  chapel  which  he 
built  in  his  rising  city.     In  1635,  the  Jesuits  dedicated  to  the 
Immaculate  Conception  their  venturous  Huron  mission,  and  in 
the  following  year  consecrated  the  country  and  its  people  in  a 
special  manner  to  "  Mary  conceived  without  sin,"  as  Father  Le 
Jeune  relates  In  1658   Monseigneur  de  Laval,  Vicar-apostolic 
of  New  France,  adopted  as  his  arras  the  representation  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,  and  of  St.  Louis,  king  of  France ;  and 
soon  after  dedicated  his  cathedral  at  Quebec  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  under  the  title  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.     Some  years 
later.  Gamier  founded  in  Western  New  York  his  mission  of  the 
same  revered  name  ;  but  in  1672  the  great  river  Mississippi  was 
baptized  with  the  name  of  the  Conception,  by  the  holy  Jesuit 
James  Marquette,  the  first  European  who  discovered  its  course ;  and 
this  missionary,  whose  life  was  one  continued  devotion,  tells  us 
in  his  narrative  that  he  "put  this  voyage  under  the  protection  of 
the  '  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,'  promising  her,  that  if  she  did 
us  the  grace  to  discover  the  great  river,  I  would  give  it  the  name 
of  the  Conception ;  and  that  I  would  also  give  that  name  to  the 
first  mission  which  I  should  establish  among  these  new  nations, 
as  I  have  actually  done  among  the  Illinois."*     This  was  the 
church  of  Kaskaskia ;  and  not  only  the  first  church  of  that  city, 
but  the  first  church  at  Three  Rivers  in  Canada,  as  well  as  the 
first  at  Mobile,  one  hundred  and  three  years  ago,  were  all  dedi- 
cated to  the  Immaculate  Conception.  ^ 

The  prelates  and  clergy  of  the  United  States  have  a  tender 
devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  in  her  most  admirable  preroga- 

*  Sbe.i's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  8. 


r 


11 


I 


/'  4si«siy^ 


IN  THE   UNITKB  STATES. 


181 


T 


1 


I 


\ 


~M 


tives,  and  endeavor  to  inspire  the  faithful  with  the  same  piety  by 
establishing  archconfraternities  and  associations  of  prayers.  Their 
zeal  and  preaching  are  rewarded  by  an  increase  of  fervor  in  the 
ranks  of  the  faithful ;  and  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  will 
soon  doubtless  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  in  their  expansive 
faith.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  the  misery  of  living  amid  sec- 
taries of  a  thousand  shades,  all  hostile  to  our  dogmas  and  cere- 
monies, exercises  a  pernicious  influence  on  many  souls,  especially 
those  not  early  accustomed  to  it.  They  are  inclined  to  rest  satis- 
fied with  what  is  of  absolute  necessity  in  religious  practices ;  they 
are  tempted  to  believe,  that  as  God  alone  has  a  right  to  our  ado- 
ration. He  alone  has  a  right  to  our  prayers ;  and  they  fear  to 
scandalize  their  Protestant  neighbors  or  Protestant  members  of 
their  family  by  reciting  their  beads  or  giving  public  honor  to  the 
saints  or  their  effigies.  The  small  number  of  missionaries,  and 
the  poverty  of  the  sanctuaries,  have  contributed  to  perpetuate  a 
state  of  things  which  deprives  religion  of  many  of  its  beauties, 
and  piety  of  many  of  its  delights.  When  the  faithful  were  re- 
duced to  a  Low  Mass  in  an  humble  chapel  on  Sunday,  special 
graces  were  needed  to  prevent  the  heart  from  slumbering  with 
languor  and  remissness;  but  the  incessant  exhortations  of  the 
clergy  daily  accelerate  the  progress  of  piety,  and  the  glorious 
Patroness  (f  the  United  States  is  now  honored  with  a  tender  ven- 
eration by  her  children. 

The  sixth  Council  asked  of  the  Holy  See  the  division  of  the 
vast  diocese  of  New  York,  and  the  formation  of  the  diocese  ot 
Buffalo  with  the  western  counties  of  the  State,  and  that  of  Albany 
with  the  northern  counties.  At  the  same  time,  it  \iras  proposed 
to  detach  from  the  See  of  Cincinnati  the  northern  portion  of  the 
State  of  Ohio,  where  the  See  of  Cleveland  was  to  be  erected. 
The  Holy  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  announced,  on  the 
3d  of  July,  1847,  that  these  propositions  were  adopted;  and  it 
transmitted  the  Pontifical  briefs  appointing  to  the  See  of  Bufialo 


"Wr 


w  '»tt-t:^  9^9  f-J-^v  '^t'  ■ 


182 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Timon  ;*  to  that  of  Albany,  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
McCloskey,  Coadjutor  of  New  York ;  and  to  that  of  Cleveland, 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Amadeus  Rappe.f 

While  the  bishops  were  assembled  in  Council,  they  had  the 
consolation  of  seeing  two  Catholic  chaplains  appointed  by  the 
government  of  the  United  States  to  join  the  army  then  invading 
Mexico.  The  recruits  of  the  American  forces  are  generally  Ii-ish, 
and  the  first  regiments  assembled  on  the  Mexican  frontier  were  at 
first  greatly  harassed  in  their  religious  faith.  The  commander 
endeavored  to  enforce  their  attendance  on  the  Protestant  worship 
in  the  camp ;  some  who  refused  were  even  flogged,  and  numerous 
desertions,  then  and  later,  were  the  results  of  th's  deplorable  in- 
tolerance. This  was  not,  however,  the  first  time  that  Catholic 
soldiere  had  been  hampered  in  the  liberty  of  worship,  under  pre- 
text of  military  discipline.  In  1831,  General  De  Walbach,  at 
Norfolk  in  Virginia,  put  under  arrest  Lieutenant  John  O'Brien 
for  refusing  to  enter  a  Protestant  church  at  the  head  of  his  com- 
pany. This  affair  produced  a  considerable  sensation  at  the  time, 
and  the  Lieutenant  would  not  allow  the  matter  t3  be  smothered 
up.  He  demanded  a  court-martial,  in  order  to  determine  the 
point  once  for  all,  and  thus  give  Catholics  a  rule  to  guide  them 
on  similar  occasions.  Lieutenant  O'Brien  is  the  same  artillery 
ofiicer  so  distinguished  in  the  Mexican  War,  where  he  rose  to  the 
rank  of  Major.  He  was  the  author  of  a  much-esteemed  treatise 
on  military  jurisprudence,  and  his  work  has  been  adopted  by 
Government  for  the  use  of  courts-martial.  As  may  be  imagined, 
the  author  here  discusses  with  great  care  a  point  on  which  he 


*  Et.  Rev.  John  Timon,  born  in  the  United  States,  a  Priest  of  the  Mission 
or  Lazarist,  was  in  1824  a  missionary  in  Texas  and  in  Ohio.  On  the  17th  of 
October,  1847,  i.o  was  con■^ecrated  Bishop  of  BufFalo  at  New  York. 

t  Rt.  Rev.  Amadeus  Rappe,  born  in  the  diocese  of  Arras  in  France,  C'\me 
to  this  country  in  1840,  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Cleveland  on  th«  lOtb 
of  October,  184V,  at  Cincinnati. 


"  f 


,  »y(P'Wf?i'Frrf-(* 


m  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


188 


f 


1ft 


had  a  personal  collision  with  a  superior  officer ;  and  hia  reasoning 
deserves  to  be  known. 

The  second  article  of  the  military  code  of  1806,  or  Articles  of 
\V  Hr,  reads  as  follows : 

"  It  is  earnestly  recommendea  to  all  officers  and  soldiers  dili- 
gently to  attend  divine  service ;  and  all  officers  who  shall  behave 
indecently  or  irreverently  at  any  place  of  divine  worship,  shall,  if 
commissioned  officers,  be  brought  before  a  general  court-martial, 
there  to  be  publicly  and  severely  reprimanded  by  the  president; 
if  non-commissioned  officers  or  soldiers,  every  person  so  offending 
shall,  for  his  jrst  offence,  forfeit  one-sixth  of  a  dollar,  to  be  do- 
ducted  out  of  b"H  next  pay;  for  the  second  offence,  he  shall  not 
only  forfeit  a  like  sum,  but  be  confined  for  twenty-four  hours ; 
and  for  every  like  offence,  shall  suffer  and  pay  in  like  manner ; 
which  money,  so  forfeited,  shall  be  applied  by  the  captain  or 
senior  officer  of  the  troop  or  company,  to  the  use  of  the  sick  sol- 
diers of  the  compimy  or  troop  to  which  the  offender  belongs."* 

As  Lieutenant  O'Brien  justly  remarks,  the  laws  prescribe  some 
acts  and  forbid  others.  Every  prohibition  of  an  act  is  accompa- 
nied with  a  penalty  in  case  of  violation.  Thus,  misbehavior  in 
church  is  forbid  i'Mi  by  Article  II.,  and  whoever  violates  it  incurs 
the  penalties  laid  J."wn  there.  But  going  to  church  on  Sunday 
is  only  recomme^ided,  and  no  penalty  is  prescribed  for  the  soldier 
who  declines  or  neglects  to  attend  divine  service.  It  is,  then, 
merely  a  counsel,  not  an  order ;  any  other  construction  of  the 
Article  would  b :)  in  open  violation  of  liberty  of  worship,  and 
Congress  is  very  rareful  not  to  infringe  this.  It  is,  then,  a  fla- 
grant violation  of  the  Constitution  to  punish  a  soldier  who  obeys 


*  A  Treatise  on  Ar-ierican  Militt  ry  Law  and  the  Practice  of  Courts-Mar- 
tial, by  John  O'Brion,  Lieutenant  in  the  U.  S.  Army.  Philadelphia  :  Lea  «fe 
Biunchard,  1846  j  p.  57.  We  are  indebted  for  these  facts  to  our  friend,  J,  G. 
Shea,  Esq.  Th«>  General  Walbach  here  mentioned  is  a  strict  Catholic,  and 
brother  to  the  v«ry  liev.  Lou'^s  de  Barth  de  Walbach,  who  administered  the 
diocese  of  Philadelphia  from  1814  to  1820. 


184 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


his  conscienffl  nnd  refuses  to  enter  a  church,  and  any  soldier  per- 
secuted foi  ouoh  a  cause  by  a  fanatical  superior  is  a  victim  of 
rev:  itiug  de  potisrn. 

The  Catholic  soldiei-s  in  Taylor's  array  were  not  silent  under 
their  wrongs.  Their  remonstrances  reached  Washington;  the 
religious  press  took  up  their  cause  warmly,  and  public  opinion 
pronounced  in  their  favor.  President  Polk  asked  the  bishops 
assembled  in  Council  to  name  two  chaplains  for  the  troops.  The 
prelates  advised  the  government  to  apply  to  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
a  provincial  of  which  resided  at  Geo.getown,  at  the  very  doors  of 
the  capitol.  The  provincial  chose  for  this  post  of  honor  two  of 
the  most  eminent  Fathers  of  the  Society — Father  John  McElroy 
and  Father  Anthony  Rey.  Although  policy  had  a  considerable 
share  in  this  act  of  justice.  President  Polk  is  entitled  to  the  grati- 
tude of  Catholics  for  affording  the  troops  the  consolations  of  their 
religion  amid  the  peril  of  war ;  and  the  fact  of  these  disciples  of 
St.  Ignatius  being  appointed  chaplains  in  the  army  by  Protestant 
republi  if  1.  -;  is  one  of  those  providential  and  extraordinary  events 
of  wKi  'li  til  3  history  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  numbers  so  many  in 
its  pages.  The  military  legislation  of  the  United  States  not  fore- 
seeing this  function,  the  two  missionaries  were  breveted  as  cap- 
tains, to  give  them  rank  in  the  army,  and  they  followed  the 
conquerors  to  tread  the  soil  of  Mexico,  from  which  the  religious 
of  their  Society  had  been  in  so  iniquitous  a  way  expelled  in  1767, 
by  the  order  of  Charles  III.,  King  of  Spain.  At  the  time  when 
the  feelings  of  the  Catholic  soldiers  were  thus  respected,  religion 
enjoyed  the  greatest  degree  of  liberty  and  consideration  which  it 
had  ever  enjoyed  in  the  United  States;  every  political  party 
sought  to  win  the  Catholics ;  enthusiastic  meetings  were  held  in 
all  parts  in  honor  of  Pius  IX.,  to  whom  various  cities  voted 
gratulatory  addresses  on  his  election. 

The  Archbishop  of  New  York  was  invited  to  preach  in  the 
halle  -'-.''  Congress  at  Washington,  and  the  President,  with  hi^ 


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IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


185 


ministry,  joined  in  the  funeral  cortege  of  the  Archbishop  of  Bal-  . 
timore.  Ihese  marks  of  tolerance  and  sympathy  were  fur  from 
the  fanaticism  of  the  last  two  centuries.  But  the  revolutions  of 
1848  sent  public  opinion  back  in  America,  and  awakened  the 
slumbering  religious  hate.  On  the  suppression  of  the  insurrec* 
tions  in  Germ  my  and  Italy,  thousands  of  socialist  refugees  were 
spawned  on  the  U'  P'ltes.     Welcom^'d  with  sympathy  as 

martyrs  <^>f  liberty,  thee  jrogues  imm^rdiately  set  to  work  ♦ 

corrupt  American  il  ms,  and  succeeded  but  too  well.     TIk  '.v 

hatred  against  the  Lhu  rove  with  infernal  jMjrtidy  to  arouse 

Protestant  fanaticism,  and  tue  results  already  obtained  fill  these 
foreign  refugees  with  confidence  for  the  future.  In  1846  two 
Jesuits  were  chaplains  in  the  American  army,  and  Catholic  pre- 
lates were  honored,  if  not  courted,  by  all.  In  1854  a  Nuncio  of 
the  Pope  was  pursued  from  city  to  city  by  insults  and  murderous 
cries,  and  a  Jesuit  was  treated  with  the  most  unheard-of  bar- 
barity. 

Father  Anthony  Rey  set  out  for  the  army  in  May,  1 846,  and 
joined  the  corps  of  General  Taylor,  where  he  immediately  won 
the  esteem  and  friendship  of  that  old  warrior.  He  fulfilled  his 
duties  to  the  soldiers  with  admirable  zeal,  which,  not  satisfied 
with  assisting  them  in  the  hospital  and  on  the  field  of  battle, 
induced  hira  to  learn  Spanish,  in  order  to  evangelize  the  poor 
Mexican  frontier-men,  scattered  over  a  territoiy  incessantly  rav- 
aged by  the  hordes  of  savage  Apaches,  and  destitute  of  all  reli- 
gious succor.  It  was  especially,  however,  at  the  siege  of  Monterey 
that  Father  Rey  displayed  the  courage  of  a  Christian  hero.  The 
combat  was  deadly,  and  continued  from  street  to  street,  from 
house  to  house.  The  Jesuit  accompanied  the  soldiei*s  in  all  their 
movements,  raising  the  wounded,  administering  the  sacraments  to 
the  dying,  praying  for  the  dead,  so  that  a  Protestant  account 
speaks  of  him  in  these  terms  : 

"  The  bulletins  of  your  generals,  and  the  glowing  eulogiums  of 


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THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


letter-wnters  on  particular  deeds  of  daring,  present  no  examples 
of  heroism  superior  to  this.  That  Jesuit  priest,  thus  coolly, 
bravely,  and  all  unarmed,  walking  among  bursting  shells,  over 
the  slippery  streets  of  Monterey,  and  the  iron  storm  and  battle 
steel  that  beat  the  stoutest,  bravest  soldier  down,  presenting  no 
instrument  of  carnal  warfare,  and  holding  aloft,  instead  of  true 
and  trusty  steel,  that  flashed  the  gleam  of  battle  back,  a  simple 
miniature  cross ;  and  thus  armed  and  equipped,  defying  danger, 
presents  to  my  mind  the  most  sublime  instance  of  the  triumph 
of  the  moral  over  the  physical  man,  and  is  an  exhibition  of  cour- 
age of  the  highest  character.  It  is  equal  to,  if  not  beyond,  any 
witnessed  during  that  terrible  siege."* 

After  the  fall  of  Monterey,  Father  Rey  remained  in  the  city  to 
take  care  of  the  wounded,  and  also  gave  missions  in  the  neigh- 
boring country.  In  one  of  his  apostolic  excursions  he  drew  on 
himself  the  hatred  of  some  wretches  for  inveighing  severely 
against  the  depravity  of  a  village  which  he  had  visited.  Attacked 
by  them,  he  was  assassinated,  together  with  the  domestic  who 
attended  him,  stripped  of  his  clothing,  and  the  body  of  this  gen- 
erous hero  of  faith,  martyr  to  his  apostolic  zeal,  was  found  by  the 
people  of  Ceralvo,  to  whom  he  had  preached  the  day  before. 
His  soldiers  wept  his  loss,  and  interred  him  far  from  his  native 
land,  far  from  the  land  of  his  adoption,  amid  the  tears  of  the 
Mexicans.! 

*  Memoir  of  Rev.  Anthony  Rey,  S.  J.,  by  James  Wynne.  U.  S.  Catholic 
Magazine,  vi.  543. 

t  Anthony  Rey,  born  at  Lyons,  March  19th,  1807,  was  educated  at  the 
Jesuit  College  of  Fribourg,  and  entered  the  Society,  November  12,  1827. 
He  asked  to  be  sent  to  the  American  missions,  and  landed  in  1840  in  the 
United  States,  where  he  was  successively  Professor  of  Metaphysics  at  George- 
town College,  assistant  at  St.  Joseph^s  Church,  Philadelphia,  then  assistant 
to  the  provincial  at  Georgetown,  and  pastor  of  Trinity  Churc''  in  that  city. 
This  post  he  left  for  the  army  in  Mexico,  where  he  was  to  find  a  grave  in 
the  month  of  January,  1847,  nt  the  age  of  forty-one.  Father  Anthony  Rey 
was  famous  for  his  zeal  for  the  strict  observance  of  bis  rule — a  zeal  which 
never  relaxed. 


o..^..  I.  liiiitTiiiSiifTa 


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IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


187 


examples 
coolly, 
ells,  over 
»d  battle 
titing  no 

of  true 
I  simple 

danger, 
triumph 
of  cour- 
'nd,  any 

i 

city  to 
neigh- 
Irew  on 
severely 
ttacked 
ic  who 
lis  gen- 
by  the 
before, 
native 
of  the 

iatholio 

at  the 
I,  182r. 
•  in  the 
Jeorge- 
sistant 
It  city. 
ave  in 
ly  Bey 
which 


Father  John  McElroy,  who  shared  the  labors  of  Father  Rey, 
did  not  advance  as  far  as  his  companion  into  the  interior  of 
Mexico.  He  remained  in  charge  of  the  garrisons  left  in  the  first 
conquered  cities,  and  there  gained  the  confidence  of  the  soldiers, 
as  in  1834  he  did  that  of  the  riotous  laborers  on  the  Baltimore 
and  Washington  Railroad,  whose  armed  gatherings,  to  the  num- 
ber of  five  thousand  or  six  thousand,  had  alarmed  all  Maryland. 
The  militia,  called  out  in  haste,  saw  no  means  of  checking  the 
disorder ;  but  the  Jesuit,  by  the  power  of  religion,  recalled  to 
their  labor  these  hard-working  but  excited  men.* 

We  have  seen  the  Provincial  of  Maryland  choose  two  of  his 
ablest  and  most  experienced  Fathers  for  the  riodest  task  of  minis- 
tering to  the  poor  soldier.  This  was  because  all  so"!^  have  in 
the  eyes  of  God  but  one  price,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus  has 
proved  since  its  origin  that  it  can  give  its  blood  for  the  people  as 
for  the  prince,  for  the  savage  red-man  as  for  the  denizen  of  the 
polished  city.  This  venerable  Society  has  greatly  extended, 
within  these  last  years,  the  sphere  of  its  apostolic  labors  in  the 
United  States,  and  to  its  influence  is  due  no  inconsiderable  part 
of  the  wonderful  progress  of  religion  in  that  vast  republic.  We 
spoke  in  a  previous  chapter  of  the  foundation  of  Georgetown  Col- 
lege in  1788,  and  the  reorganization  of  the  Society  in  1803. 
This  college,  honored  by  a  visit  fi'om  Washington  in  1*795,  has 
never  since  failed,  to  receive  the  kindl}  consideration  of  the  Federal 


*  Father  McElroy,  a  native  of  Ireland,  rendered  immense  service  to  reli- 
gion by  the  missions  at  Frederick  City  and  all  the  western  shore.  He  built 
a  magnificent  church  at  Frederick,  where  the  Maryland  province  now  has  its 
novitiate :  and  such  was  his  influence  with  the  people,  that  in  1829  a  Pro- 
testant writer,  Mr.  Schaeifer,  exclaims  in  his  journal :  *'  Strange  paradox ! 
Catholic  France  expels  the  Jesuits,  deprives  them  of  the  education  of  youth, 
and  the  Protestants  of  Frederick  contribute,  each  with  his  fifty  dollars,  to 
build  the  Jesuits  a  college  there."  Father  McElroy  has  repeatedly  refused  a 
mitre.  He  is  now  (1855)  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Boston,  but  is  con- 
stantly travelling  to  the  points  where  the  confidence  of  the  bishops  or  the 
wants  of  the  Society  call  him.    Cretineau  Joly,  vi.  874. 


188 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Gov^ernment,  and  tjie  classic  solemnities  of  Georgetown  always 
attract  either  the  President  and  his  Cabinet  or  members  of  Con- 
gress.* The  astronomical  labors  of  the  Jesuit  Observatory  are 
famous  in  America,  and  the  learned  professors  of  the  college 
maintain  an  active  correspondence  with  the  scientific  men  of  the 
country.  The  province  of  Maryland  numbered  in  1850,  seventy 
priests  and  sixty  scholastics,  employed  in  different  institutions  or 

*  Tradition  has  preserved  the  details  of  Washington's  visit  to  Georgetown, 
and  they  faithfully  transmit  it  to  the  successive  generations  nurtured  at  the 
college.  The  Father  of  his  Country  arrived  on  horseback,  without  suite  and 
unattended.  Ho  led  his  horse  to  the  whitewashed  fence  of  the  college  in- 
closure,  and  was  first  received  by  the  late  Rev.  'William  Mathews,  then  a 
young  professor.  As  may  be  supposed,  the  Fathers  gave  him  a  most  cordial 
welcome,  and  took  him  through  their  whole  establishment.  Washington 
expressed  his  admiration  for  the  magnificent  view  which  the  heights  of 
Georgetown  enjoy  ;  but  as  it  was  winter,  and  an  icy  breeze  made  the  party 
shiver,  the  General  observed  that  they  had  to  purchase  the  beauties  of  na- 
ture in  summer  by  the  winter's  storm — (Notice  on  Georgetown  College  in 
the  Catholic  Instructor  of  Philadelphia,  Feb.,  1858).  We  cite  this  anecdote 
to  show  that  ws  know  the  relations  which  existed  between  the  Jesuits  of 
Maryland  and  the  illustrious  Washington.  A  venerable  religious,  however, 
reproaches  us  in  the  Ami  de  Religion  with  doubting  that  a  personal  frieiia- 
ship  existed  between  Washington  and  Archbishop  Carroll.  We  should  be 
glad  to  share  the  opinion  of  our  opponent,  but  further  researches  enable  us 
to  renew  the  assertion.  There  is  no  proof  that  'lington  was  a  personal 
friend  of  John  Carroll.  Archbishop  Kenrick  i  ndly  pxamined  tlie  cor- 
respondence of  the  first  archbishop,  preserved  in  the  archives,  and  he  writes : 
"I  find  no  proof  that  Archbishop  Carroll  was  a  personal  friend  of  Washing- 
ton." The  Hon.  Jared  Sparks,  whose  labors  as  the  biographer  of  the  great 
hero,  and  as  the  editor  of  his  works,  render  him  a  high  authority;  also 
writes  us :  "  As  Washington  was  frequently  in  Baltimore,  and  as  the  arch- 
bishop was  much  respected  and  esteemed  by  all  classes  of  society  there,  it  is 
probable  that  they  met  on  such  occasions  in  the  social  circles  ;  but  I  have 
seen  no  evidence  that  there  was  any  particular  intimacy  between  them,  or 
any  other  relations  than  those  of  a  general  acquaintance.  All  the  papers  lefl 
by  Washington  were  for  several  years  in  my  possession,  and  examiiied  with 
great  care,  and  I  remember  no  private  correspondence  with  Archbishop 
Carroll,  nor  any  evidence  of  an  intimate  intercourse  between  them." 

In  all  Washington's  correspondence  there  is  only  one  letter  to  Archbishop 
Carroll,  dated  April  10, 1792,  addressing  him  simply  as  *'  Sir,"  and  declaring 
the  inability  of  Government  to  aid  him  in  converting  the  Indians.  Nehher 
Brent's  Life,  nor  Campbell's,  nor  Archbishop  Carroll's  own  panegyric  of 
Washington,  alludes  to  any  such  friendship. 


>'i 


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f 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


189 


8  of  Con- 
atory  are 
3  college 
m  of  the 
,  seventy 
itions  or 

argetown, 
red  at  the 
suite  and 
Jllege  in- 
8,  then  a 
St  cordial 
shington 
?ights  of 
he  party 
8  of  na- 
)llege  in 
mecdote 
suits  of 
owever, 
frieua- 
ould  be 
lable  us 
lersonal 
lie  cor- 
writes : 
lahing- 
s  great 
;y;  also 
!  arch- 
e,  it  is 
I  have 
era,  or 
(rsleft 
i  with 
)ishop 

lishop 
laring 
either 
ric  of 


m 


missions.  It  had  a  novitiate  at  Frederick,  and  colleges  at  George- 
town, Washington,  and  Worcester.  The  Jesuits  of  this  province 
directed  fifty  churches  in  the  dioceses  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  Pittsburg,  and  Richmond,  including  the  Indian  missions 
in  the  State  of  Maine.  The  vice-province  of  Missouri,  the  first 
Fathers  of  which  were  furnished  by  Maryland  in  1823,  numbered 
in  1850,  seventy-five  priests,  fifty-six  scholastics,  and  eighty-three 
lay  brothers.  It  had  a  novitiate  and  scholasticate  at  Florissant,  a 
university  at  St.  Louis,  colleges  at  Cincinnati,  Bardstown,  and 
Louisville,  and  directed  twenty-eight  churches  in  the  dioceses  of 
St.  Louis,  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  Milwaukig,  and  Chicago,  and 
sixteen  churches,  or  stations  among  the  Indians  in  the  territories. 
A  mission  dependent  on  the  province  of  France,  ^nd  lying  partly 
in  Canada,  had  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  th8  same  year, 
twenty-one  priests,  who  directed  the  Diocesan  Semmary,  St. 
John's  College,  and  several  churches  in  the  dioceses  of  New  York, 
Albany,  and  Buffalo.  The  province  of  Lyons  had,  at  the  same 
time,  a  mission  in  the  South,  employing  twenty-two  Fathers  in 
the  diocescc  of  New  Orleans  ana  Mobile,  where  they  directed  St. 
Charles'  College  at  .Grand  Coteau,  the  School  of  Jesus  in  New 
Orleans,  and  Spring-Hill  College  near  Mobile.  Thus,  in  1850, 
sixteen  dioceses  shared  in  the  pious  assistance  so  lavishly  afforded 
by  the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  and  since  then  it  has 
founded  new  colleges  at  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and 
in  Louisiana  and  in  California,  and  devotes  itself  to  the  missions 
in  the  dioceses  of  San  Francisco  and  Monterey.* 


*  We  add  a  list  of  the  Presidents  of  Georgetown  College : 

1.  Robert  Plunkett,  S.  J.,  from  Oct.,  1791. 

2.  Robert  Molyneux,  S.  J. 

8.  Louis  Dubourg  (afterwards  Bishop  of  New  Orleans),  till  1799 

4.  Leonard  Neale,  S.  J.  (afterwards  Archbishop  of  Baltimore),  till  1806. 

5.  Robert  Molyneux,  S.  J. 

6.  William  Mathews,  1808.    Died  in  1854. 

7.  Francis  Neale,  S.  J.,  1810.    Died  Deo.  20, 1887. 


■; 


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•  -•-^iTwr-Jf'.K'^ 


190 


THB  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESE    OF   BALTIMORE — (1846-1852). 

Election  of  Pins  IX.— Popularity  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiir  in  tbe  United  States— Peter's 
Pf  nee— Seventh  Connoil  of  Baltimore— Division  of  tlie  United  States  into  six  ecclesi- 
astical provinces— Deattf  of  Archbishop  Eccleston- Most  Bev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick, 
sixth  Archbishop  of  Bal^ore— National  Council  of  Baltimore  and  new  Episcopal 
Sees.  • 

I  '  The  Fathers>f  the  sixth  Council  of  Baltimore  had  scarcely  had 
time  to  retuA  to  their  dioceses,  when  news  arrived  of  the  death 
of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  elec- 
tion of  His  Holiness  Pius  IX.  The  Catholics  of  the  United 
States  testified  sincere  regret  for  a  pontiff"  who  had  done  much 
for  religion  in  their  country,  and  who  had  founded  half  the  epis- 
copal sees  then  existing.  The  holy  organizer  of  so  many  rising 
churches  was  deplored  in  the  uttermost  parts«of  the  New  World ; 
the  Catholic  papers  put  on  mourning,  and  in  almost  every  diocese 
a  solemn  funeral  service  was  celebrated  for  the  repose  of  the  soul 


8.  John  Orassi,  S.  J.,  1812. 

9.  Benjamin  Fenwick,  S.  J.  1817  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Boston). 

10.  Anthony  Kohlmann,  S.  J.,  1819.    Died  April  10, 1888. 

11.  Enoch  Fenwick,  S.  J. 

12.  Benjamin  Fenwick,  S.  J.,  1824. 
18.  Stephen  L.  DubnLsson,  S.  J.,  1825. 

14.  John  Beschter,  S.  J.    Died  January  6, 1842. 

15.  Th.  F.  Mulledy,  S.  J.,  till  1837. 

16.  Wm.  McSherry,  S.  J.,  till  1889.  \ 

17.  James  Ryder,  S.  J.,  till  1840. 

18.  Th.  F.  Mulledy,  S.  J.,  from  1845. 

19.  James  Ryder,  8.  J.,  from  1848. 

20.  Charles  Stonestreet,  S.  u.,  from  1851. 

21.  Bernard  A.  Maguire,  S.  J.,  from  1852. 


\     i 


>■  w 


al 


'*■    111^ 


tmmm 


<i.       . 


J0^'^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


191 


ates— Peter's 

»  six  ecclesl- 

P.  Kenrick, 

>w  Episcopal 


rcely  had 
;lie  death 
the  elec- 
)  United 
le  much 
ihe  epis- 
ly  rising 
World ; 
■  diocese 
the  soul 


' 


of  the  Father  of  the  faithful.  Al  Philadelphia  the  funeral  oration 
on  Gregory  XVI.  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Father  O'Dwyer, 
in  the  presence  of  the  city  authorities  and  the  two  foreign  con- 
suls— ^for  the  noble  attitude  of  the  aged  pontiflf  in  his  interview 
with  the  Emperor  of  Russia  had  rendered  his  name  popular 
among  the  Protestants. 

But  this  unusual  sympathy  for  the  succ^aaouiLSt.  Peter  was 
especially  manifested  in  America  on 
Pius  IX.,  June  16, 1846,  and  on  the  gei 
he  inaugurated  his  reigu.  The  enthusi« 
is  well  known,  perfidiously  imitated  by 
and  they  thus  obeyed  the  word  of  comll 
deemed  it  the  best  mode  of  overthrowing 
at  first  by  praise.  The  echo  of  the  magnificent' 
decreed  to  Pius  IX.  resounded  even  beyond  the 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  wished  in  their  turn 
their  admiration  for  the  person  and  acts  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 
Meetings  were  called  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union,  and 
after  eloquent  speeches,  addresses  were  resolved  upon  to  bear  to 
the  Holy  Father  the  spontaneous  tribute  of  American  sympathy. 
Some  Italians,  or  some  demagogues,  who  had  crept  into  the  com- 
mittees, in  vain  endeavored  to  disfigure  these  demonstrations  of 
the  people,  by  voting  for  addresses  to  the  Roman  people  instead 
of  felicitations  to  the  prince  raised  by  Heaven  to  the  government 
of  the  States  of  the  Church.  But  the  reasonable  instinct  of  the 
Protestant  republicans  preserved  them  from  the  snares  laid  by 
these  agitators ;  they  were  wise  enough  then  in  the  United  States 
to  understand  that  all  the  nations  of  Europe  are  not  made  for 
republics ;  they  merely  wished  to  see  constitutions  granted  by 
the  sovereign  instead  of  extorted  by  the  people ;  and  the  address 
voted  at  Ne ..  York  by  a  meeting  of  six  thousand  persons,  pre- 
sided over  by  the  mayor  of  the  city,  contained  these  remarkable 
words: 


193 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHCHOH 


"And  more  fonnidaWe  than  .11 .1.    ' 
yourself  to  e„c„„„,«,,  «„d  b/oo^"  '^T'/o"  muat  have  girded 

"eas  aad  ingratitude  of  multftud^  ,!,     T  "T"""*'  """  ""^'e- 
bondage  which  could  cwTnThe  "'^'^  ''""'  ^"^'^^'"S 
the  flesh-pota  of  Egypt  Zul"  ^'^^""'^  *»  "«  led  back  to 
-en  the  follower,  0?^'^'^/""',?,"'^  -■"emporarie.,  Jd 
tude  the  agony  of  his  "^     "j  ""^  l'^"''  ^''"  <-  bear  in  soli- 
bend,  wij,  ^/manifest  irf'intr::^^^:'  ^^  «-•  -  appre- 
"gant  hfpes,  impetuous  requiremlT    ^''.  *"P««'»""»».  e«rav. 

afready  been,  accomrij^hed  "*  '        "^  ^''^T  thing  has  not 

the':i:ti/fenn:M  rr-"^  -^^'■"^^^-pbi, 

-^.agjJAei,  »^bdd  .n  turn  their  enthusiastic 

^T^ay  the  Almighty  ^^nt  ™.  I      ,.      '"""''"''« ''"'nation : 
and  wisdom  f.m  fn  Ki^lrTb      '"''  '"'"''^  "'^^"'^ 
-n  the  beneficent  ref^L  ^^^  l'^  '","  ^W  oonclu-' 
■nsp-re  the  princes  and  people  rf  Tl        !  '*^'''    ""^He 
-deration  nec^^to  ^^^'J^^Z'  U    """"^  »<' 
to  you  successors,  who  will  continZ  .  *'*^  ^*  '"^  "P 

peace  and  justice  on  earth -Tndth    /"'"'"  *"  '"«"»-  of 
meanest  of  God's  poor  will  It  1  ^""'' '""  <"""«  "ben  the 

-ost  powerful  of  h'is  oj;  sIT  '  "^  "^  "^  '»""»<""  'be 
Cbristendom;  and  the  ^^^s  „^  f  ^.^^e  bar  of  united 
and  the  oppressor,  blushing  with  sham      u  ^n  1^""  "P""  '"'">. 

;-™«.andindignant\oirt:":riSt'Se'tr 

-2rc^f.?:he'::rwrentT  *^''^*^-  ~ 


♦  p " —      *"c_y  saw 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


193 


ive  girded 
iiat  fickle- 
enuinbing 
'd  back  to 
aries,  and 
ar  in  soli- 
f^e  appre- 
8,  extrav- 
Dgs  that 
:  has  not 

idelphia, 
lusiastic 
cation  : 
►f  heart, 
conclu- 
fayHe 
ire  and 
lise  up 
Dce  of 
sn  the 
n  the 
inited 
him, 
their 
op- 

•wed 
aore 
saw 


847. 


that  in  the  middle  ages  the  people  owed  to  that  august  power 
their  enfranchisement  from  the  slavery  of  their  masters,  and  that 
the  nations  relapsed  into  anarchy  or  servitude  as  soon  as  princes 
threw  off  this  salutary  check.  To  point  to  the  restoration  of  the 
spiritual  authority  of  the  Holy  See  over  the  monarchs,  as  the  best 
remedy  against  the  oppressions  of  humanity,  was,  however,  too 
sincere  an  avowal  to  be  lasting,  and  they  were  soon  seen,  in  spite 
of  their  enthusiastic  professions,  siding  with  those  who  revolted 
against  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  Some  Italians,  as  we  have  re- 
marked, took  part  in  these  sympathetic  meetings.  They  were 
then  the  first  and  foremost  in  America  to  cry  "Pio  Nino," 
though  on  the  very  eve  of  casting  off  this  mask,  and  declaring 
themselves  open  enemies  of  the  Papacy.  One  of  them,  Avezzana, 
became  Minister  of  War  of  the  Roman  Republic ;  another,  Fo- 
resti,  presided  in  1854  at  the  most  violent  meetings  against  the 
apostolical  envoy,  Monseigneur  Bedini ;  a  third,  Secchi  de  Casali, 
editor  of  a  miserable  Italian  sheet  at  New  York,  became  the 
seide  of  Gavazzi,  and  his  pen  is  more  envenomed  against  the 
Catholics  than  even  his  master's  tongue.  And  these  men  were 
the  warm  admirers  of  Pius  IX.  in  1846. 

The  Catholics  were  more  persevering  in  their  love ;  and  when 
they  heard  of  the  assassination  of  Rossi  ^November  16,  1848), 
and  the  escape  of  the  Holy  Father,  eight  u&vs  later,  their  filial 
respect  for  the  persecuted  Pontiff  redoubled.  As  the  stay  of 
Pius  IX.  at  Gaeta  was  expected  to  be  only  temporary,  they  asked 
where  in  the  whole  world  he  would  retire  during  the  anarchy 
which  ravaged  the  eternal  city ;  and  the  faithful  in  the  United 
States  flattered  themselves  that  the  Pope  would  come  to  seek  a 
generous  hospitality  from  the  great  republic  of  the  New  World. 
The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  was  the  organ  of  this  unanimous 
voice,  and  on  the  18th  of  January,  1849,  Feast  of  the  Exaltation  of 
the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  Archbishop  Eccleston  wrote  to  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  to  beg  him  to  honor  Maryland  with  his  sacred  presence  • 

a 


,^:.. 


}  i 


_3. 


194 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


"  Our  seventh  Council  of  Baltimore  is  to  bo  held  on  the  6th  of 
May  next.  We  are  perhaps  too  bold,  Holy  Father,  in  asking  and 
hoping  that,  if  possible,  the  shadow  of  Peter  may  even  transiently 
gladden  us,  and  give  us  new  strength  and  coui'age.  How  great 
an  honor  and  support  to  our  rising  Church  !  what  joy  and  fervor, 
what  fruits  and  pledges  of  communion  throughout  our  whole 
republic,  if  your  Holiness,  yielding  to  our  unanimous  wishes, 
would  but  stand  amid  the  prelates  assembled  from  the  most  re- 
mote shores  of  North  America,  and  deign  to  console  and  honor 
us  and  our  flocks  with  your  apostolic  advice  and  paternal  bless- 
ing !  The  Council  might  easily,  if  your  Holiness  so  direct,  be 
deferred  to  a  more  convenient  time,  and  so  far  as  our  poverty 
permits,  nothing  shall  be  wanting  to  make  every  thing  a  comfort 
and  joy  to  our  Most  Holy  Father."* 

Deprived  of  the  happiness  of  being  presided  over  by  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  prince  of  the  apostles,  the  Fathers  of  the  seventh 
Council  of  Baltimore  wished  to  show  their  lively  sympathy,  by 
ordering  a  collection  to  be  made  in  their  dioceses,  in  the  nature 
of  Peter's  pence.  This  spontaneous  tribute  produced  about 
twenty-six  thv  usand  dollars,  which  was  transmitted  to  the  Pope's 
Nuncio,  at  Paris,  by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 

The  Council  met  on  the  6th  of  May,  1849 ;  twenty-five  bishops 
were  present ;  and  by  the  first  and  second  decrees,  the  Fathers 
proclaimed  that  the  devotion  of  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  the 


*  L'Orbe  Cattolico  a  Pio  IX.  Pontiflce  Massimo  esulante  da  Roma.  Na- 
poli,  1850 ;  vol.  i.  248.  This  work,  published  by  the  Civilta  Cattolica,  con- 
tains the  letters  of  coadolence  and  sympathy  addressed  to  the  Holy  Father 
by  the  bishops  of  the  whole  world  on  the  news  of  his  exile  to  Gaeta — a 
magnificent  monument  of  the  unanimity  of  the  Church  and  its  communion 
with  its  head.  Besides  the  letter  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  we  re- 
mark letters  from  the  Bishop  of  Natchez  and  the  Bishop  of  Wallawalla  and 
Nesqualy,  but  we  do  not  perceive  the  beautiful  letter  addressed  to  Pope 
Pius,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1849,  by  the  Fathers  of  the  seventh  Council  of 
Baltimore :  and  yet  that  important  document  merits  an  honorable  place  in 
fiuch  a  collection. 


/ 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


195 


United  States  to  the  Irnmaeubite  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin Mary  was  universal ;  and  dechirod  that  the  prelates  would 
regard  with  lively  satisfaction  the  doctrinal  definition  of  that 
mystery  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  if,  in  the  judgment  of  his  wis- 
dom, he  deemed  the  definition  seasonable.  These  decrees  were 
adopted  unanimously,  with  the  exception  of  one,  the  prelate  of 
Richmond,  whose  dissenting  opinion  is  given  in  the  annals  of  the 
Council  of  Baltimore,  doubtless  at  the  wish  of  Bishop  Whelan.* 

The  Council  proposed  the  erection  of  new  Sees  at  Wheeling 
for  the  eastern  part  of  Virginia ;  at  Savannah  for  the  State  of 
Georgia ;  at  St.  Paul  for  Minnesota  Territoiy ;  and  a  Vicariate- 
apostolic  at  Santa  F6  for  New  Mexico,  which  had  lately  been 
added  to  the  United  States.  The  troubles  of  the  Roman  Revolu- 
tion retarded  the  examination  of  the  acts  of  the  Council ;  but  the 
Pope  having  entered  Rome  on  the  12th  of  April,  1850,  the  Con- 
gregation resumed  their  accustomed  important  deliberations ;  and, 
by  letter  of  August  9,  1860,  the  Propaganda  transmitted  to  Bal- 
timore the  Pontifical  briefs  transferring  Bishop  Whelan  to  the 
new  See  of  Wheeling,  and  nominating  the  Rev.  Francis  Xavier 
Gartland  to  the  See  of  Savannah,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Cretin  to  the 
See  of  St.  Paul,  the  Rev.  John  McGill  to  the  See  of  Richmond, 
and  the  Rev.  John  Lamy  to  the  Vicarlate-apostolio  of  Santa  Fe. 
The  Rev.  Charles  P.  Montgomery,  and  on  his  refusal,  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Sadoe  Alemany  was  called  to  the  See  of  Monterey,  in 
California,  a  province  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Mexico,  after 
the  war  of  1846.f 

*  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita,  p.  274. 

+  Francis  Xavier  Gartland,  born  in  Dublin  in  1805,  ordained  at  Philadel- 
phia in  1882,  consecrated  Bishop  of  Savannah,  November  10,  1850,  died  of 
the  yellow  fever  at  his  See,  September  20,  1853. 

Joseph  Cretin,  of  the  diocese  of  Lyons,  devoted  himself  to  the  American 
missions  in  1838,  was  consecrated  in  France,  Bishop  of  St.  Paul's,  July  26, 
1851,  and  returned  to  this  country  with  six  priests. 

John  Lamy,  born  in  1813,  at  Londres,  in  the  diocese  of  Clermont,  em- 
barked for  tlii»  countrv,  with  Archbishop  Purcell,  July  9,  1889,  together 


I  i 


j:i 


196 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  bishops  also  proposed  suffragans  for  the  metropolitan  See 
of  St.  Louis,  which  the  Holy  See  had,  by  brief  of  July  20,  1847, 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  an  archiepiscopal  See.  Many  of  the 
bishops  had  opposed  the  division,  but  now  yielding  to  the  voice 
of  Peter,  they  proposed  other  ecclesiastical  provinces,  and  to  the 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  assigned  as  suffragans,  the  Bishops  of 
Dubuque,  Nashville,  St.  Paul,  Chicago,  and  Milwaukie.  New 
apostolic  briefs,  of  the  19th  of  July,  1860,  confirmed  this,  and  at 
the  same  time  erected  into  metropolitan  churches — 

Ist.  The  See  of  New  Orleans,  with  Mobile,  Natchez,  Little 
Rock,  and  Galveston  as  suffragans. 

2d.  The  See  of  Cincinnati,  with  Louisville,  Detroit,  Vincennes, 
and  Cleveland  as  suffragans. 

3d.  The  See  of  New  York,  with  Boston,  Hartford,  Albany,  and 
Buffalo  as  suffragans. 

By  this  division,  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  retained  as  his 
suffragans  only  the  Bishops  of  Philadelphia,  Richmond,  Wheeling, 
Savannah,  Charleston,  and  Pittsburg.  The  United  States  were 
thus  divided  into  six  ecclesiastical  provinces,  including  the  prov- 
ince of  Oregon,  erected  July  24,  1846. 

Admirable  fecundity  of  the  Church,  which,  amid  its  greatest 
trials,  gives  birth  to  new  folds !  While  the  enemies  of  religion 
believed  that  they  had  destroyed  the  Papacy  at  Rome,  a  hierar- 
chical organization,  full  of  the  future,  was  preparing  in  America. 
The  prelates  awaited  with  the  most  respectful  deference  the  end 
of  the  Revolution,  so  that  the  Holy  Father  might  confirm  their 
decrees ;  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Pius  IX.,  on  his  complete 
restoration  to  his  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  was  to  approve 

with  five  other  misfionnries  of  Auvergne  ;  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Agatho 
in  partibtts,  and  Vicar- apostolic  of  New  Mexico,  November  24, 1850. 

Joseph  Sadoc  Aiemany,  a  Dominican,  born  in  Catalonia,  then  exiled  to 
Italy,  but  coming  to  America,  became  provincial  of  tiio  Order,  was  conse- 
crated at  Borne,  second  Bishop  of  Monterey,  in  1850,  and  transferred  to  the 
arohbitthopric  of  Sun  Francisco,  July  29, 1858. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


107 


politan  See 
y  20,  1847, 
[any  of  the 
to  the  voice 
and  to  the 
Bishops  of 
Likie.  New 
his,  and  at 

ahez.  Little 

Vincennes, 

Ubany,  and 

ned  as  his 
,  Wheeling, 
iJtates  were 
;  the  proY- 

its  greatest 
of  religion 
J,  a  hierar- 
ti  America, 
ice  the  end 
nfirm  their 
J  complete 
:o  approve 

>p  of  Agatho 
S50. 

Jn  exiled  to 

was  001186- 

srred  to  the 


the  proposals  of  the  Council  at  Baltimore.  By  a  remarkable 
comcidence,  the  erection  of  Baltimore  into  a  metropolitan  See  had 
been  eflFected  in  1808,  at  a  moment  when  Pius  VII.  was  the  vic- 
tim of  persecution,  and  the  bulls  of  installation,  retarded  by  the 
imprisonment  of  that  holy  Pontiflf,  and  by  the  death  of  the  bishop 
who  was  btinging  them  to  this  country,  reached  the  United 
States  only  in  1810. 

Before  separating,  the  bishops  addressed  pastoral  letters  to  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  their  dioceses,  elegantly  expressive  of  the  grief 
which  they  felt  to  witness  the  outrages  offered  to  the  Holy  See. 
"We  are  not  subject  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  as  a  temporal 
power,  and  are  devotedly  attached  to  the  republican  institutions 
under  which  we  live.  We  feel  ourselves  to  be  impartial  judges 
of  the  events  which  have  resulted  in  his  flight  from  the  capitol, 
and  of  the  subsequent  attempts  to  strip  him  of  all  civil  power ; 
yet  as  Mends  of  order  and  liberty,  we  cannot  but  lament  that  his 
enlightened  policy  has  not  been  suffered  to  develop  itself,  and 
that  violence  and  outrage  have  disgraced  the  proceedings  of  those 
who  proclaim  themselves  the  friends  of  social  progress.  We 
must  at  the  same  time  avow  our  conviction  that  the  temporal 
principality  of  the  Roman  States  has  served  in  the  order  of  Divine 
Providence,  for  the  free  and  unsuspicious  exercise  of  the  spiritual 
functions  of  the  Pontificate,  and  for  the  advancement  of  the 
interests  of  religion  by  fostering  institutions  of  charity  and  learn- 
ing. Were  the  Bishop  of  Rome  the  subject  of  a  civil  ruler  or 
the  citizen  of  a  republic,  it  might  be  feared  that  he  would  not 
always  enjoy  that  freedom  of  action  which  is  necessary,  that  his 
decrees  and  measures  be  respected  by  the  faithful  throughout  the 
world.  We  know,  indeed,  that  if  at  any  time  it  please  God  to 
suffer  him  to  be  permanently  deprived  of  all  civil  power.  He  will 
divinely  guard  the  free  exercise  of  his  spiritual  authority,  as  was  the 
case  during  the  first  three  ages,  under  the  reign  of  the  pagan  empe- 
rors, when  the  bishops  of  Rome  displayed  an  apostolic  energy, 


I 


I  i 


I 


I 


198 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


which  was  everywhere  felt  and  respected.  On  account  of  the 
more  excellent  principality  attached  to  the  Church  of  Rome  from  - 
the  beginning,  as  founded  by  the  glorious  apostles,  Peter  and 
Paul,  every  local  church — that  is,  all  Christians  in  every  part  of 
the  world — felt  bound  to  harmonize  in  faith  with  that  most 
ancient  and  illustrious  Church,  and  to  cherish  inviolably  her  com- 
munion. The  successor  of  Peter,  even  under  circumstances  so  un- 
favorable, watched  over  the  general  interests  of  religion  in  Asia  and 
Africa,  as  well  as  Europe,  and  authoritatively  proscribed  every 
error  opposed  to  divine  revelations,  and  every  usage  pregnant 
with  danger  to  its  integrity. 

'  "The  Pontifical  office  is  of  divine  institution,  and  totally  inde- 
pendent of  all  the  vicissitudes  to  which  the  temporal  principality 
is  subject.  When  Christ  our  Lord  promised  to  Peter  that  He 
would  build  his  church  on  him  as  a  rock.  He  gave  him  the 
assurance  that  the  gates  of  hell — that  is,  the  powers  of  darkness 
— should  not  prevail  against  it ;  which  necessarily  implies  that 
his  office  ie  fundamental  and  essential  to  the  Church,  and  must 
continue  to  the  end  of  time.  Peter  was  constituted  pastor  of  the 
lambs  and  sheep — namely,  of  the  whole  flock  of  Christ — which 
through  him  is  one  fold  under  one  shepherd.  Our  Lord,  at  his 
last  supper,  prayed  that  his  disciples,  and  those  who  through 
their  ministry  should  believe  in  Him,  might  be  one,  even  as  Ho 
and  the  Father  are  one ;  and  as  He  is  always  heard,  we  cannot 
doubt  tLat  this  unity  is  an  inseparable  characteristic  of  the 
Church ;  whence  the  office  of  the  chief  pastor,  by  which  unity  is 
maintained,  can  never  cease.  We  exhort  you,  brethren,  to  con- 
tinue steadfast  in  your  attachment  to  the  chair  of  Peter,  on  which 
you  know  that  the  Church  is  built.  Since  it  has  pleased  Divine 
Providence  to  establish  that  chair  in  the  city  of  Rome,  the  capital 
of  the  pagan  world,  in  order  to  show  forth  in  the  most  striking 
manner  the  power  of  Christ,  he  is  a  schismatic  and  prevaricator 
»ko  attempts  to  establish  any  other  chair  in  opposition  to  the 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


199 


Roman  See  or  independent  of  it.  That  Church  was  consecrated 
by  the  martyrdom  of  the  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  who  be- 
queathed to  her  their  whole  doctrine  with  their  blood.  Christ 
our  Lord  has  placed  the  doctrine  of  truth  in  the  chair  of  unity, 
and  has  charged  Peter  and  his  successor  to  confirm  their  breth- 
ren, having  prayed  specially  that  the  faith  of  Peter  may  not  fail. 
By  means  of  the  uninterrupted  tradition  of  that  Church,  coming 
down  through  the  succession  of  bishops  from  the  apostlfes,  we 
confound  those  who  through  pride,  self-complacency,  or  any 
other  perverse  influence,  teach  otherwise  than  divine  revelation 
warrants,  and  attempt  to  adulterate  the  doctrine,  which,  as  pure 
streams  from  an  unpolluted  fountain,  flows  hence  throughout  the 
whole  world."* 

We  see  how  the  bishops  of  the  United  States  maintained  a  close 
and  firm  union  with  the  centre  of  Catholicity,  and  how  imbued 
their  teachings  were  with  a  sincere  devotedness  to  the  Holy  See  at 
the  very  moment  when  the  tempest  raged  in  all  its  fury  against 
the  sacred  rock  of  the  Church.  After  such  striking  proofs  of  a 
perfect  orthodoxy,  it  is  consoling  to  read  what  the  first  Bishop  of 
Baltimore  wrote  in  1Y91,  one  year  after  his  consecration : 

"  On  the  Yth  of  next  month,"  says  Archbishop  Carroll,  "  our 
clergy  are  to  meet  here  in  a  diocesan  synod ;  then  we  shall  dis- 
cuss the  mode  of  preserving  the  succession  to  the  episcopacy  of 
the  United  States.  Instead  of  a  coadjutor,  I  am  much  inclined 
to  solicit  a  division  of  my  diocese  and  the  creation  of  another 
bishopric.  One  only  objection,  of  much  weight,  retards  my  de- 
termined resolution  in  favor  of  this  scheme,  and  that  is,  that  pre- 
vious to  such  a  step  a  uniform  discipline  may  be  estabhshed  in 
all  parts  of  this  great  continent,  and  every  measure  so  firmly 
concerted,  that  as  little  danger  as  possible  may  remain  of  a  dis- 
union with  the  Holy  See.    I  am  very  fearful  of  this  event  taking. 


*  Catholic  Almanac,  1850,  p.  51. 


■I 


200 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


! 


I    t. 


^ 


I 


!l 


place  in  succeeding  tinie,  unless  it  be  guarded  against  by  every 
prudential  precaution.  Our  distance,  though  not  so  great  if  geo- 
metrically measured,  as  South  America,  Goa,  and  China,  yet  in  a 
political  light  is  much  greater.  South  America  and  the  Portu- 
guese possessions  in  Africa  and  Asia  have,  through  their  metro- 
political  countries,  an  intermediate  connection  with  Rome ;  and 
the  missionaries  in  China  are  almost  all  Europeans.  But  we 
have  no  European  metropolis,  and  our  clergy  soon  will  be  neither 
Europeans  nor  have  European  connections.  Then  will  be  the 
danger  to  a  propension  to  a  schismatical  separation  from  the 
centre  of  unity.  But  the  Founder  of  the  Church  sees  all  these 
things  and  can  provide  the  remedy.  After  doing  what  we  can, 
we  must  commit  the  rest  to  His  Providence."* 

His  Providence  has  not  been  wanting,  and  the  spectacle  pre- 
sented by  the  hierarchy  of  the  United  States  sixty  years  after  its 
venerable  founder  betrayed  his  well-founded  anxiety  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  bonds  of  unity,  can  only  inspire  us  with  increased 
confidence  for  the  future. 

Archbishop  Eccleston,  who  had  the  honor  of  presiding  over 
five  of  the  councils  of  Baltimore,  considered  the  interest  of  the 
Church  at  large  more  important  than  the  particular  rank  of  his 
metropolitan  See,  and  without  opposition,  accepted  that  division 
of  ecclesiastical  provinces  which  reduced  Baltimore  to  the  same 
rank  as  its  former  sufiragans  of  New  York  and  Cincinnati.  The 
seventh  Council  had  asked  that  the  primatial  dignity  should  be 
attached  to  the  See  of  Baltimore,  on  account  of  the  priority  of  its 
origm.  In  a  new  country  like  the  United  States,  an  historic 
existence  of  half  a  century  is  almost  antiquity.  The  Holy  See 
deemed  proper  to  defer  this  oflScial  favor,  but  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore  nevertheless  preserved  a  sort  of  honorable  primacy, 
and  he  was  specially  invested  in  1853  with  the  functions  of 

*  Brent's  Biographical  Sketch  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  p.  158. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


201 


Apostolical  Legate  of  the  First  National  Council  of  the  United 
States. 

Archbishop  Eccleston  also  distinguished  his  episcopate  by  his 
labors  for  the  completion  of  his  cathedral.  To  him  it  is  indebted 
for  the  second  tower  and  the  interior  and  the  exterior  decoration 
of  a  portion  of  the  pile.  The  prelate  wished  to  raise  the  portico, 
the  absence  of  which  injures  the  faqade  of  the  cathedral,  but  un- 
fortunately death  did  not  permit  him.  Although  apparently  in 
good  health,  his  constitution  was  very  delicate,  and  God  called 
the  archbishop  to  Himself,  at  an  age  when  he  might  still  hope  to 
render  long  service  to  the  Church.  The  archbishop  visited 
Georgetown  early  in  April,  1861,  intending  to  make  only  a  shoit 
stay  there,  but  sickness  detained  him,  and  he  expired  piously  on 
the  2  2d  of  April.  The  calmness,  patience,  amenity,  and  piety 
which  he  displayed  during  his  last  days  were  truly  edifying,  and 
one  of  the  religious  who  attended  the  venerable  suflferer,  wrote  to 
her  companions  some  hours  before  the  fatal  moment:  "Could 
you  have  been  at  our  Father's  side  since  the  beginning  of  his  ill- 
ness, what  angelic  virtue  would  you  not  have  witnessed  I  Such 
perfect  meekness,  humility,  patience,  and  resignation!  Not  a 
murmur,  not  a  complaint  has  escaped  his  lips.  Truly  has  he 
most  beautifully  exemplified  in  himself  those  lessons  which,  in 
health,  he  preached  to  others.  In  losing  him,  we  lose  indeed  a 
devoted  father,  a  vigilant  superior,  a  sincere  and  most  disinterested 
friend." 

To  take  the  mortal  remains  of  the  worthy  prelate  to  his  metro- 
politan See,  the  funeral  had  to  cross  Washington,  the  capital  of 
the  Union ;  the  procession,  which  ^vas  nearly  a  mile  long,  slowly 
wended  its  way  through  the  principal  street,  chanting,  amid  the 
tolling  of  the  bells,  the  psalms  of  the  ritual ;  the  clergy  were 
arrayed  in  their  proper  vestments,  and  among  the  distinguished 
persons  who  followed  the  corpse  were  seen  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  his  Cabinet,  and  the  members  of  the  diplomado 

9* 


mmtm 


^!  i 


!  1 


u 


S02 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


coi-ps.  While  the  Executive  power  thus  honored  the  Catholic 
leligion  in  its  pastors,  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  at  that 
very  time  the  Queen  of  England,  who  has  nine  millions  of  Cath- 
olic subjects  in  Europe,  allowed  her  ministry  to  insult  them  and 
provoke  a  fanatical  agitation,  on  no  better  pretext  than  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  Episcopal  hierarchy. 

"  Archbishop  Eccleston,"  says  his  biographer,  "  was  gifted  with 
talents  of  a  high  order.  He  had  a  penetrating  mind,  which  he 
had  cultivated  by  a  laborious  study,  and  enriched  with  varied 
learning.  As  a  preacher  of  the  words  of  God,  he  was  regarded 
as  eloquent,  graceful  and  persuasive,  displaying  great  zeal  and 
piety  in  all  he  uttered,  and  was  sure  to  enlist  the  undivided  at- 
tention of  his  hearers.  It  may  not  be  useless  to  record  here  a 
fact,  which  is  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  ministry 
in  this  country,  that  shortly  before  his  elevation  to  the  priesthood, 
young  Eccleston  was  invited  to  deliver  a  prayer  at  the  public 
celebration  in  Baltimore  of  the  4th  of  July,  anniversary  of  our 
national  independence.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  appeared 
before  the  vast  assemblage  of  people,  vested  in  cassock,  surplice, 
and  stole ;  and  while  as  a  minister  of  God  he  invoked  the  divine 
blessing  upon  the  nation,  and  exhibited  the  approval  of  a  free 
government  and  popular  liberty  by  the  Church,  he  delighted  his 
immense  audience  by  his  eloquent  appeal  to  the  throne  of  mercy, 
and  the  pleasing  manner  of  its  delivery. 

"  In  person  the  archbishop  was  tall  and  commanding,  and  re- 
markable for  his  gi'aceful  deportment  and  ease  in  conversation. 
No  one  ever  approached  him  familiarly  without  being  pleased 
with  him  or  without  an  increased  respect  for  his  person.  His 
piety  was  of  the  highest  order.  No  one  could  look  v^m  him 
without  being  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  was  a  true  prelate 
of  the  Church.  Ever  unostentatious  and  unassuming,  his  great 
aim  was  to  do  good  to  all  men,  seeking  the  will  of  his  great 
Master.    His  study  was  to  please  Him,  regardless  of  the  world, 


■I  4 


■'V' 


11* 


;ll 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


203 


which  would  willingly  have  heaped  upon  him  its  choicest  honors, 
had  he  not  studiously  fled  from  them."* 

On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  the  See  of  Baltimore 
did  not  long  remain  vacant,  and  by  letters  apostolic  of  August  3, 
1851,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick  was  transferred  from  the 
See  of  Philadelphia  to  the  archbishopric  of  Baltimore.  By  a 
brief  of  the  19th  of  August  in  the  same  year,  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff" appointed  Archbishop  Kenrick  apostolic  delegate,  to  preside 
at  the  National  Council  of  the  entire  episcopate  of  the  United 
States.  This  Council  met  on  the  9th  of  May,  1852  ;  six  arch- 
bishops and  twenty-six  bishops  took  part  in  its  deliberations,  and 
the  most  important  measure  which  they  proposed  to  the  Holy 
See,  was  to  create  new  dioceses,  in  order  to  multiply  on  the  im- 
mense surface  of  the  American  continent  the  centre  of  action  and 
vigilance,  and  in  order  that,  in  no  point,  the  faithful  be  out  of  the 
reach  of  visits  from  their  first  pastors.  K  there  were  questions  of 
dignities,  rendered  attractive  by  the  honors,  power,  or  riches  of 
earth,  we  might  see  in  this  development  of  the  episcopate,  human 
reasons  and  motives  of  ambition.  But  in  the  United  States,  the 
mitre  is  only  a  fearful  burden,  with  none  of  the  consolations 
which  lighten  it  elsewhere ;  and  the  prelates  are  but  venerable 
mendicants,  ever  extending  the  hand  for  daily  bread,  for  means 
to  raise  the  humble  shrines  that  form  their  cathedrals  and 
churches.  Imagine  one  of  these  missionaries,  on  whom  the  Holy 
See  imposes  the  burden  of  a  diocese,  and  imprints  the  apos- 
tolic character.  The  new  bishop  has  every  thing  to  create ;  he 
finds  only  a  few  priests  scattered  here  and  there,  entirely  insuffi- 
cient for  a  country  where  immigration  periodically  brings  crowds 
of  Irish  and  German  Catholics,  who  are  to  be  preserved,  and  still 
more,  whose  children  are  to  be  preserved  from  the  allurements  of 
error.    He  must  build  a  church  and  a  dwelling,  found  a  seminary 


*  Notice  of  Archbishop  Eccleston  in  Catholic  Almanac  for  1862v  p.  60. 


h 


204 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


and  schools,  elicit  vocations  by  his  influence,  and  confinn  the 
faithful  in  the  truth ;  gather  around  him  Brothers  and  communi- 
ties of  Sisters,  provide  by  unceasing  toil  for  the  subsistence  of 
these  fellow-laborers,  travel  constantly  pn  horseback  or  on  foot,  in 
snow  or  rain,  preach  at  all  hours,  hear  confessions  without  re- 
spite, visit  the  sick,  and  watch  everywhere  to  preserve  intact  the 
sacred  deposit  of  faith  and  morality.  Such  is  the  life  of  an 
American  prelate  appointed  ^.o  found  a  new  diocese — a  life  of 
bodily  fatigue,  like  that  of  the  humblest  missionary,  but  with  all 
the  responsibility  of  a  bishop.  Most  frequently  such  duties  are 
accepted  through  obedience  by  him  whom  the  Holy  See  deems 
courageous  enough  to  fulfil  them ;  and  the  new  diocese  soon  sees 
churches  and  convents  arise,  the  clergy  multiply,  and  the  priest 
stand  beidde  the  pioneer  in  the  latest  clearings.  Such  is  the  his- 
tory of  religion  in  America  since  the  commencement  of  this 
century,  and  the  future  promises  that  in  spite  of  the  trials  of  the 
last  few  years,  this  development  will  not  cease. 

By  his  apostolic  letter  of  July  29,  1853,  the  Holy  Father  ap- 
proved most  of  the  propositions  of  the  National  Council,  and  in 
the  ecclesiastical  province  of  Baltimore  he  founded  the  new  dio- 
cese of  Erie,  a  dismemberment  of  that  of  Pittsburg.  In  the 
province  of  New  York  the  Sees  of  Burlington  and  Portland  were 
detached  from  Boston,  and  those  of  Brooklyn  and  Newark  were 
detached  from  the  diocese  of  New  York.  In  the  province  of 
Cincinnati  the  diocese  of  Covington  was  formed  of  the  eastern 
portion  of  Kentucky,  which,  till  then,  had  formed  part  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Louisville.  The  province  of  St.  Louis  wiEis  increased  by 
the  See  of  Quincy,  and  that  of  New  Orleans  by  the  See  of  Natchi- 
toches. In  California,  San  Francisco  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  metropolis,  with  Monterey  as  a  suffragan  See;  and  finally, 
Upper  Michigan  was  made  a  Vicariate-apostolic.  We  shall 
speak  of  these  different  erections  when  we  treat  of  the  provinces 
and  St.'itof!  in  which  they  are  comprised.     Rome  deferred  acced- 


i 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


205 


confiim  the 
d  communi- 
bsistence  of 
T  on  loot,  in 
without  re- 
e  intact  the 
life  of  an 
B — a  life  of 
but  with  all 
1  duties  are 
'  See  deems 
se  soon  sees 
d  the  priest 
I  is  the  his- 
ent  of  this 
rials  of  the 

Father  ap- 
Qcil,  and  in 
e  new  dio- 
In  the 
tiand  were 
iwark  were 
rovince  of 
he  eastern 
of  the  dio- 
creased  by 
of  Natchi- 
dignity  of 
id  finally, 
We  shall 
provinces 
ed  acced- 


ing to  the  request  of  the  Council,  only  with  regard  to  raising  the 
See  of  Boston  to  the  metropolitan  dignity,  and  with  regard  to 
making  Wilmington  a  See  and  Florida  a  Vicariate-apostolic* 

Before  separating,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  addressed  a  pas- 
toral letter  to  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  the  United  States.  It 
lays  down  rules  for  ecclesiastical  property,  and  declares  that  the 
administration  of  bodies  of  trustees  shall  be  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  bishop  of  the  diocese.  It  solemnly  condemns  secret 
societies  and  Free  Masonry,  calling  to  mind  the  decrees  of  the 
Holy  See  against  such  societies.  It  shows  the  astonishing  pro- 
gress of  the  Church  in  America,  and  stimulates  the  charity  of  the 
faithful  to  meet  its  wants.  It  makes  it  a  duty  in  families  not  to 
crush  the  ecclesiastical  or  religious  vocations  of  their  children, 
but  on  the  contrary,  to  encourage  them  by  a  good  education  and 
sound  principles.  Finally,  it  condemns  the  detestable  system  of 
the  public  schools,  where  children  of  all  denominations  are  ad- 
mitted, and  religion  scrupulously  excluded.  The  future  of  the 
Church  is  in  the  Catholic  education  of  the  youth,  and  hence  the 

*  Rev.  Henry  D.  Coskery  was  appointed  to  the  See  of  Portland,  and  on 
his  declining,  the  Rev.  David  W.  Bacon,  of  Brooklyn,  was  elected  and  con- 
secrated at  New  York,  in  April,  1855. 

Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  elected  Bishop  of  Burlington,  Rev.  John 
:  Lotighlin,  elected  Bishop  of  Brooklyn,  and  Rev.  James  Roosevelt  Bayley, 
[elected  Bishop  of  Newark,  were  consecrated  at  New  York,  Oct.  80,  1858,  by 
[Monseigneur  Bedini,  Nuncio  of  His  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX. 

Father  George  Carrell,  8.  J.,  elected  Bishop  of  Covington,  was  consecrated 
at  Cincinnati,  Nov.  1,  18o3.  The  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Melcher,  of  St.  Louis, 
was  elected  Bishop  of  Qnincy,  and  the  diocese  is  still  administered  by  the 
Bishop  of  Chicago.  The  Very  Rev.  Augustus  Martin,  elected  Bishop  of 
Kachitoches,  was  consecrated  Dec.  80, 1858. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor  was  at  first  transferred  to  Erie,  but  remained 
at  Pittsburg,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Josue  M.  Young  was  consecrated  April  23, 
1854. 

Rev.  Thuddeus  Amat,  elected  Bishop  of  Monterey,  was  consecrated  March 
12,  1854. 

Rt.  Rev.  Frederick  Baraga,  Bishop  of  Atnyzenie  in  part,  and  Vicar-apos- 
tolic of  Upper  Michigan,  was  consecrated  Nov.  1,  1858,  and  is  now  Bishop 
ofSaut  St.  Mary's. 


209 


THE  CATHOLIC  OHUBCH 


enemies  of  the  faith  seek  every  means  to  force  upon  Catholics 
their  schools  and  unchristian  systems. 

Since  Archbishop  Carroll,  six  archbishops  have  succeeded 
in  the  metropolitan  See  of  Baltimore,  and  each  of  them  has  had 
a  share  in  the  consoling  progress  of  religion  in  the  diocese,  as 
well  as  in  the  country  at  large,  by  presiding  over  eight  Councils ; 
and  thus  contributing  to  organize  and  develop  the  episcopal  hie- 
rarchy over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  United  States.  In 
1856,  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia  contain  eighty- 
eight  churches,  forty-five  other  stations,  one  hundred  and  thirty 
priests,  of  whom  seventy-three  perform  parochial  duties,  and  two 
hundred  and  two  levites  preparing  for  the  sanctuary.  Three  ec- 
clesiastical seminaries,  two  of  which  are  directed  by  Sulpitians,  a 
Jesuit  and  a  Redemptorist  novitiate,  four  colleges  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  one  directed  by  secular  priests,  five  academies  and 
boarding-schools  for  young  ladies,  directed  by  the  Visitation 
Nuns,  one  by  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  many  Catholic  schools  for 
children  of  both  sexes,  show  the  care  with  which  the  youth  are 
trained  in  science  and  piety.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  have  also 
an  orphan  asylum,  a  lunatic  asylum,  and  hospital,  capable  of 
holding  one  hundred  and  fifty  sick  persons;  the  Oblates  devote 
themselves  to  colored  children,  while  the  Sistera  of  Notre  Dame 
take  care  of  the  children  of  the  Germans ;  finally,  the  pious  Car- 
melites draw  down  God's  blessing  on  the  diocese,  where  works  of 
charity  and  education  have  multiplied  so  abundantly  within  sixty 
years. 


-■-•(• 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


207 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


PENNSYLVANIA (1680-1810). 


Flnt  missions  at  Philadelphia,  Goshenhoppen,  Gonewago,  Lancaster— Inflnonoe  of 
French  intervention  in  securing  respect  and  toleration  for  Catholicity— The  Angos- 
tlnians  in  Pennsylvania — ^The  Franciscans— Schism  In  the  German  Gbarch  of  the 
Holy  Trinity— Foundation  of  the  episcopal  See  of  Philadelphia. 

The  English  Jesuits  in  Maryland  did  not  limit  their  care  to 
the  missions  regularly  assigned  to  them.  We  have  seen  them,  in 
the  ardor  of  their  zeal,  brave  persecution  and  death  in  the  neigh- 
boring colony  of  Virginia,  seeking  the  few  Catholics  scattered 
over  its  vast  surface.  The  same  apostolic  spirit  led  to  Pennsyl- 
vania the  missionaries  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  They  extended 
their  sphere  of  action  to  the  north  as  well  as  to  the  south  of  their 
residences ;  hence,  after  sketching  the  history  of  the  Church  in 
the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  we  naturally  pass  to  the  relation  of  the 
commencement  of  the  faith  in  the  province  which  formed  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia. 

The  peaceful  sect  of  Friends  reveres  as  its  founder  the  shoe- 
maker, George  Fox,  who  began  his  preaching  at  Nottingham  in 
1649.  Persecuted  by  the  partisans  of  Anglicanism,  the  Quakers 
resolved  to  seek  a  refuge  in  America,  as  the  Puritans  had  re- 
solved to  do  in  1620;  and  in  1676  a  company  of  Friends  pur- 
chased of  Lord  Berkeley  the  western  part  of  New  Jersey,  lying 
on  the  Delaware  river.  In  1680,  William  Penn  obtained  a  grant 
of  the  right  bank  of  the  same  river,  and  King  Charles  II.,  in  his 
charter,  gave  the  new  colony  the  name  of  Pennsylvania. 

Notwithstanding  his  distinguished  birth  and  vast  fortune,  Penn, 


r 


■ 


■  7''  'r  r  r  p^--,  ^^ 


208 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


who  had  been  educated  at  the  Calvinist  college  at  Saumur  in 
France,  was  seduced  by  the  philanthropical  ideas  of  the  innova- 
tors. A  son  of  the  brave  Admiral  Penn  who  had  wrested  Ja- 
maica from  the  Spaniards,  he  had  inherited,  as  part  of  his 
patrimony,  a  large  claim  against  the  crown.  Charles  II.,  who 
spent  his  money  in  other  pursuits  than  the  payment  of  his  debts 
or  those  of  the  nation,  discharged  this  by  giving  William  Penn  a 
colony,  and  the  latter,  wishing  to  take  possession,  landed  in 
America  in  October,  1682.* 

The  new  proprietor  explored  the  country  on  the  Delaware,  in 
order  to  select  a  spot  suitable  for  the  establishment  of  the  new 
colony,  and  in  the  month  of  January,  1683,  he  laid  out  the  plan 
of  Philadelphia,  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love.  The  preceding 
month,  the  principal  settlers  had  met  in  convention  at  Chester, 
and  under  the  guidance  of  Penn,  had  enacted  as  the  law  of  Penn- 
sylvania, that  as  God  is  the  only  judge  of  man's  conscience,  every 
Christian,  without  distinction  of  sect,  should  be  eligible  to  public 
employments.  The  only  restriction  on  individual  liberty  estab- 
lished by  the  rigid  Quakers  was  the  prohibition  of  all  balls,  thea- 
tres, masquerades,  cock  and  bull  fights  ;f  and  we  cannot  blame 
them  for  endeavoring  to  banish  these  occasions  of  vice  and  disor- 
der. The  toleration  of  William  Penn,  an  imitation  of  Lord  Bal- 
timore's, is  a  striking  contrast  to  the  Protestant  fanaticism  which 
then  obtained  in  New  England  and  Virginia.  The  colony  in- 
creased rapidly,  and  the  immigration  was  not  confined  to  the 
natives  of  England  and  Germany,  where  the  doctrines  of  Quaker- 
ism had  made  progress.  Irish  Catholics  hoped  to  find  liberty  of 
worship  in  Pennsylvania,  nor  were  they  deceived  by  the  inten- 
tions of  the  honored  founder  of  that  colony ;  but  the  Protestant 
Bishop  of  London  had  inserted  in  the  charter  a  provision  guar- 
anteeing in  Pennsylvania  security  for  the  Church  established  by 


*  Banoroft,  Hintory  of  the  United  States,  ii.  848. 


t  Idem. 


IK  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


209 


Saumur  in 
the  innova- 
wrested  Ja- 
part  of  his 
rles  II.,  who 
of  his  debts 
liam  Penn  a 
t,  landed  in 

Delaware,  in 
of  the  new 
out  the  plan 
le  preceding 
at  Chester, 
law  of  Penn- 
icience,  every 
ble  to  public 
liberty  estab- 
[1  balls,  thea- 
annot  blame 
ce  and  disor- 
of  Lord  Bal- 
ticism  which 
e  colony  in- 
[fined  to  the 
$8  of  Quaker- 
nd  liberty  of 
)y  the  inten- 
le  Protestant 
)vi8ion  guar- 
stablished  by 

t  Idem. 


law,  and  as  Anglicanism  feels  secure  only  where  Catholicity  is 
banished  or  oppressed,  this  clause  long  fettered  the  liberty  of  the 
faithful  at  Philadelphia  and  its  neighborhood. 

The  true  faith  seems,  however,  to  have  been  tolerated  in  Penn- 
sylvania from  the  very  first,  and  indeed  Penn  was  too  close  a 
friend,  and  afterwards  too  devoted  a  subject  of  the  Catholic  king, 
James  II.,  to  have  been  unfriendly  to  Catholics.  The  first  Cath- 
olic settlers  were  doubtless  attended  by  a  priest,  as  those  of  Mary- 
land had  been  by  Father  White;  for  in  1686 — that  is,  three 
years  after  the  founding  of  Philadelphia — William  Penn  mentions 
an  old  priest  among  the  inhabitants.  In  1708,  in  a  letter  ad- 
dressed from  England  to  James  Logan  at  Philaddphia,  Penn, 
then  himself  under  the  suspicion  of  the  new  government  for  his 
attachment  to  James,  wrote :  "  There  is  a  complaint  against  your 
government  that  you  suffer  public  Mass  in  a  scandalous  manner. 
Pray  send  the  matter  of  fact,  for  ill  use  is  made  of  it  against  us 
here."  And  in  a  subsequent  letter  he  returns  to  it  in  these 
terms :  "  It  has  become  a  reproach  to  me  here,  with  the  ofiScers 
of  the  crown,  that  you  have  suffered  the  scandal  of  M<iss  to  be 
publicly  celebrated." 

Bernard  U.  Campbell,  citing  these  curious  extracts  from  Wat- 
son's Annals  of  Philadelphia,  adds  that  the  first  chapel  where 
divine  worship  was  oflfered  in  1686  was  a  wooden  building  on 
the  northwest  comer  of  Front  and  Walnut  streets.*  Watson 
■  speaks  of  a  second  chapel,  built  before  1*736,  on  the  corner  of 
^Chestnut  and  Second  streets,  and  says  that  it  was  built  "  for  a 
papal  chapel,  and  that  the  people  opposed  its  being  so  used  in  so 
public  a  place." 

We  know,  too,  thpt  in  1729  a  Catholic  chapel  existed  at  a 
short  distance  iiuz::  Philadelphia,  on  the  road  from  Nicetown  to 
Frankfort,  and  that  it  was  built  by  Miss  Elizabeth  McGawley,  a 


♦  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll.    Cath.  Mag.,  1845,  p.  252. 


3l 


210 


THE  OATHOLIO  CHUBOU 


young  Irish  lady,  who  had  settled  Id  that  part  with  a  number  of 
her  tenants.  It  \fi  probable  that  this  chapel  was  coDnidered  as 
forming  part  of  Miss  McGawley's  house,  which  enabled  the  Cath- 
olics to  meet  there  under  the  protection  of  a  private  house. 
Watson  remarks  that  in  a  field  near  the  site  of  this  ancient 
chapel,  a  marble  tombstone  bears  a  cross,  with  the  inscription — 
"John  Michael  Brown  ob.  16  Dec.  A.  D.  1700.  R.  I.  P."  This 
was  the  priest  attached  to  the  mission,  and  his  tomb  did  not 
escape  the  fury  of  the  fanatics  who  in  1844  set  fire  to  two  of  tV»3 
Catholic  churches  in  Philadelphia.  The  gravestone  was  brrlcen 
by  these  miscreants,  who  sought  to  glut  on  the  memovy  of  the 
dead  their  hatred  of  the  living. 

In  the  year  1730,  Father  Josiah  Greaton,  a  Jesuit,  was  sent 
from  Maryland  to  Philadelphia,  and  according  to  a  tradition  pie* 
served  by  Archbishop  Neale,  he  entered  on  his  duties  in  the 
following  interesting  way :  Father  Greaton  knew  a  Catholic  at 
Lancaster  named  Doyle,  and  applied  to  him  for  the  names  of 
some  of  the  faithful  in  i'hiladelphia.  Doyle  named  a  wealthy 
old  lad}^  remarkable  lor  her  attachment  to  the  faith,  and  the 
missionary  soon  called  upon  the  lady,  attired  in  the  grave,  staid 
dress  of  a  Quaker.  After  various  questions  as  to  the  number  of 
Christian  sects  in  the  city.  Father  Greaton  made  himself  known, 
to  the  lady's  great  joy.  She  immediately  informed  her  Catholic 
neighbors  that  she  had  a  priest  in  the  house.  He  first  exercised 
his  ministry  in  the  humble  chapel  at  the  r  vi  .lei  of  Front  and 
Walnut  streets,  and  in  11 3?.,  aided  by  the  li>>.^;a)!'  'ds  host 
he  bought  a  lot  in  Fourth-street,  and  erectt.1  llit;  little  chapel  of 
St.  Joseph.  The  next  year  the  authorities  took  umbrage  at  this, 
and  Governor  Gordon  made  a  report  to  the  Council  on  the  recent 
er.  V  'on  in  Walnut-street  of  a  Roman  Mass-house  for  the  public 
c<2l!.;br.  non  o."  Mass,  contrary  to  the  statute  of  William  III. 
Kalm,  tie  Swedish  ti-'veller,  who  visited  Philadelphia  in  1749, 
says  that  ihe  Catholics  had  then,  "  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 


^ 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


211 


.  niimbor  of 
mniidered  aa 
id  the  Cath- 
ivate  house, 
this  ancient 
ascription — 
[.P."  This 
mb  did  not 
►  two  of  t^w 
was  broken 
noiy  of  the 

it,  was  sent 

adition  pre- 

ities  in  the 

Catholic  at 

e  names  of 

i  a  wealthy 

ith,  and  the 

grave,  staid 

number  of 

self  known, 

ler  Catholic 

it  exercised 

Front  and 

'-is  host    . 

> 

I  chapel  of 
ige  at  this, 
I  the  recent 
the  public 
^illiam  III. 
a  in  1749, 
)art  of  thtj 


m 


town,  a  great  house,  which  is  well  adorned  within,  and  huh  «n 
organ."* 

"Father  Greaton,"  says  Archbishop  Carroll,  m  a  nianustiipt 
still  preserved,  "  laid  the  foundation  of  that  congregation  now  so 
flourishing/  He  lived  there  till  about  the  year  1750,  long  before 
vhich  he  had  succeeded  in  building  the  old  chapel  wb^ch  is  still 
(•c>.'tiguou8  to  the  presbytery  of  that  town,  and  in  assembling  a 
liumerous  congregation,  which,  at  his  first  going  thither,  did  not 
consist  of  more  than  ten  or  twelve  persons.  I  remember  to  have 
seen  this  venerable  man  at  the  head  of  his  flock  in  the  year 
1748." 

Father  Greaton  was  assisted  for  somo  time  at  Plfiladelphia  by 
Father  Henry  Neale,  also  of  his  Society,  who  died  th  re  in  I748,f 
and  being  himself  soon  after  recalled  to  Maryland,  w;.  s  succeeded 
by  Father  Robert  Harding,  an  English  religious,  wh«  had  been 
on  the  Maryland  mission  since  1732.  The  late  learned  Mr. 
Campbell  could  not  discover  where  this  Jesuit  was  employed  be- 
fore 1760.  In  that  year  we  find  him  pastor  of  St.  Joseph's, 
and  for  twenty  years  later  fulfilling  the  duties  of  that  \  -est  with 
exemplary  zeal  and  fidelity.  As  a  stationary  assistant,  he  had 
from  1768  Father  Ferdinand  Farmer,  charged  especially  with  the 
direction  of  the  German  population;  and  in  1763,  Father  Hard- 
.  ing,  finding  St.  Joseph's  no  longer  suflBced  for  the  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  Catholics,  began  the  erection  of  St.  Ma  7's  on 


*  Kalm's  Travels.  Father  Josiah  Greaton,  born  abont  1680,  enter  d  the 
Society  of  Jeaua  on  the  5th  of  July,  1708,  and  became  a  Professed  Father, 
Aneust  4,  1719.  He  resided  at  St.  Inigro'a,  in  Maryland,  from  1721  to  1724. 
After  exercising  his  apostolate  at  Philadelphia  for  nearly  twenty  yenrs,  he 
returned  to  Maryland,  and  died  at  Bohemia  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1752. 

+  Father  Henry  Neale  belonged  to  the  excellent  family  which  gave  nine 
member^  to  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  the  last  century.  He  returne  1  to 
All,  .'fica  from  Europe  in  1740,  and  died  at  Philadelphia  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1748,  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-fourth  of  his  religious 
career. 


212 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


gruund  which  he  had  purchased.*  Of  this  estimable  religious, 
Duch^,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  writing  just  before  his.  death, 
bears  the  following  testimony :  "  He  is  a  well-bred  gentleman, 
and  much  esteemed,  I  am  told,  by  all  denominations  of  Christians 
in  this  city,  for  his  prudence,  his  moderation,  his  known  attach- 
ment to  British  liberty,  and  his  unaffected  pious  labors  among  the 
people  to  whom  he  officiates."  -  w.^  ^;  ^    .^ 

In  17Y1,  Father  Robert  Molyneux  was  attached  to  St.  Joseph's 
Church,  and  directed  it  till  1787,  when  he  was  recalled  to  Mary- 
land.* Father  Farmer  and  he  contracted  a  most  intimate  friend- 
ship, and  they  used  this  harmony  for  the  good  of  religion.  Both 
learned,  pious,  untiring,  they  shared  the  labors  of  the  ministry ; 
and  although  Father  Farmer  was  eighteen  years  older  than  his 
friend,  he  always  undertook  the  distant  missions,  as  Father  Moly- 
neux's  corpulence  rendered  travelling  very  difficult  for  him,  while 
the  former,  by  his  sermons,  produced  a  great  effect  among  the 
Germans  and  Irish. 

While  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland  thus  zealously  occupied  the 
capital  of  Pennsylvania,  they  did  not  neglect  the  country  parts ; 
and  in  1741,  two  German  Fathers  were  sent  there  to  instruct  and 
convert  the  numerous  immigrants  who  arrived  from  all  parts  of 
Germany.  In  that  year.  Father  Theodore  Schneider,  a  native  of 
Bavaria,  founded  the  mission  of  Goshenhoppen,  forty-five  miles 


*  Caspipina's  Letters;  London,  1777,  vol.  i.  p.  136.  Father  Robert  Hard- 
ing died  at  Pliiladeiphia  on  the  let  of  September,  1772,  in  the  seventy-first 
year  of  his  age.  Like  all  the  missionaries  of  that  epoch,  his  labors  were  not 
limited  to  the  city  where  he  was  a  pastor.  He  went  to  a  great  distance  to 
administer  the  sacraments,  and  certificates  of  baptism  celebrated  by  him  are 
found  in  New  Jersey. 

t  Father  Robert  Molyneux,  born  in  Lancashire,  June  24,  1788,  a  novice  of 
the  Society  of  Jesuj  in  1757,  was  sent  to  Maryland  soon  after  his  ordination, 
and  thence  to  Philadelphia  in  1771.  On  the  reorganization  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  in  1803,  he  became  the  first  Superior  of  Maryland,  and  was  twice 
President  of  Georgetown  College.  He  refused  to  become  Coadjutor  of  Bal- 
timore, and  died  at  Qeorgetown,  December  9th,  1808. 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


218 


from  Philadelphia.     He  lived  there  in  the  utmost  poverty  for 
more  than  twenty  years;  he  built  a  church  there  in  1746,  and 
ministered  to  a  very  extensive  district,  going  once  a  month  to 
Philadelphia  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the  Germans,  till  Father 
Fanner  was  stationed  in  the  residence  in  that  city.    So  respected 
was  Father  Schneider  among  the  Germans,  even  the  Protestant 
part,  that  the  Mennonites  and  Hernhutters  generously  aided  him 
to  build  his  church  at  Goshenhoppen.    His  apostolic  journeys  led 
him  to  the  interior  of  New  Jersey,  where  fanaticism  at  first  sought 
his  life.    He  was  several  times  shot  at ;  but  these  attempts  to 
shorten  his  days  diminished  nothing  of  his  zeal,  and  he  at  last 
made  his  visits  objects  of  desire,  even  to  Protestants,  towards 
whom,  with  infinite  charity,  he  fulfilled  the  functions  of  bodily 
physician,  when  he  could  not  become  the  physician  of  their  souls. 
A  relic  of  this  venerable  missionary  is  preserved,  which  attests 
alike  his  poverty  and  his  industry.    It  is  a  complete  copy  of  the 
Roman  Missal,  in  his  handwriting,  stoutly  bound ;  and  the  holy 
Jesuit  must  have  been  destitute  of  every  thing,  to  copy  so  pa- 
tiently a  quarto  volume  of  seven  hundred  pages  of  print.    Father 
Schneider  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-four,  on  the  10th  of  July, 
1Y64,*  having  been  visited  in  his  illness  the  previous  month  by 
Father  Farmer ;  and  we  believe  that  his  successor  at  Goshenhop- 
pen was  Father  Ritter.    At  least.  Father  Molyneux,  in  a  letter  to 
Father  Carroll,  dated  December  7th,  1784,  speaks  of  Father  Rit- 
ter as  having  been  for  some  years  at  Goshenhoppen,  where  the 
congregation  numbered  five  hundred  communicants.f     In  1747, 
Father  Henry  Neale  had  purchased  at  Goshenhoppen  one  hun- 


*  Father  Theodore  Schneider,  born  in  1708,  and  a  Jesuit  from  1721,  had 
been  professor  of  philosophy  and  polemics  at  Liege,  and  also  Rector  Mag- 
nJficHS  of  the  University  of  Heidelburg,  before  coming  to  America.  His 
profefsion  dates  from  1729. 

t  This  Father  is  apparently  the  one  whom  Oliver  mentions  as  John  Baptist 
Butter  or  Ruyter,  a  Belgian,  who  joined  the  English  province  about  1768, 
and  was  sent  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died,  Feb.  8, 1786. 

9 


Ui 


i 


i 


214 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


dred  and  twenty-one  acres  of  land,  for  which  he  paid  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  sterKng.  The  next  year  Father  Greaton 
paid  the  proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  fifty-one  pounds  for  four 
hundred  and  seventy-three  acres  in  the  same  place,  and  this 
property  still  belongs  to  the  mission  of  Goshenhoppen,  which  the 
Jesuits  continue  to  serve. 

In  1741,  Father  William  Wapeler,*  the  companion  of  Father 
Schneider,  founded  the  mission  of  Conewago,  on  the  stream  of 
that  name,  thus  again  associating  this  local  term  with  the  mis- 
sions of  Catholicity,  as  his  Society  had  already  done  on  the  Mo- 
hawk and  St.  Lawrence.  "  He  remained,"  says  Father  Carroll, 
"  about  eight  years  in  America,  and  converted  or  reclaimed  man)^ 
to  the  faith  of  Christ,  but  was  forced  by  bad  health  to  return  to 
Europe."  He  retired  to  Ghent,  and  then  to  Bruges,  where  this 
worthy  Jesuit  closed  his  career  in  1*781,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 
Another  celebrated  missionary  of  Conewago  is  Father  Pellentz,f 
whose  memory  is  in  veneration  throughout  Pennsylvania,  and  we 
find  that  in  1*784  he  numbered  over  a  thousand  communicants  at 
his  mission.  In  1*791,  we  find  him  at  the  synod  of  Baltimore, 
filling  the  post  of  Vicar-general  of  Bishop  Carroll's  immense 
diocese. 

In  1*741,  Father  Wapeler  had  bought  land  at  Lancaster,  with 
the  intention  of  building  a  chapel  there.J  Ten  years  after, 
Father  Farmer  was  attached  to  this  residence,  and  remained 
there  in  all  the  poverty  and  humility  of  an  apostle  till  1'758.§ 

*  Father  William  "W  apeler  or  Wappelerwas  born  in  Westphalia,  January 
22,  1711,  and  entered  tlie  Society  of  Jesus  in  1728.  Oliver's  Collection, 
p.  216. 

i  Father  James  Pellentz  was  born  in  Germany,  January  19,  1727,  entered 
the  Society  in  1744,  and  made  his  profession  in  1756.     Idem. 

X  In  1734,  in  consequence  of  fears  of  a  war  with  France,  the  missionary  at 
Lancaster  became  an  object  of  suspicion,  and  the  matter  was  brought  before 
the  Council  by  Governor  Gordon.     Watson's  Annals,  ii.  256. 

§  Father  Ferdinand  Farmer  had  translated  into  English  his  German  name, 
Btcenmeyer.    He  wap  born  in  the  then  Circle  of  Suabia,  Oct.  18,  1720,  en- 


-# 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


215 


i  two  hun- 
er  Greaton 
ds  for  four 
te,  and  this 
,  which  the 

a  of  Father 
stream  of 
th  the  mis- 
on  the  Mo- 
her  Carroll, 
imed  man)'^ 
)  return  to 
where  this 
of  seventy. 
)T  PellentZjf 
nia,  and  we 
mnicants  at 
Baltimore, 
's  immense 

caster,  with 

j^ears   after, 

1  remained 

till  1758.§ 

lalia,  January 
's  Collection, 

1727,  entered 

missionary  at 
rought  before 

[ermnn  name, 
18,  1720,  en- 


We  have  seen  him  exercising  at  a  later  date  the  ministry  at 
Philadelphia,  and  to  him  New  York  is  indebted  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  Catholic  congregation  in  that  city.  In  1784,  we 
find  Father  Geisler*  at  Lancaster  with  a  congregation  of  seven 
hundred  communicants ;  and  the  country  parts  of  Pennsylvania 
have  thus  seen  the  holy  mysteries  celebrated  for  more  than  a 
century  in  toe  three  chapels  of  Goshenhoppen,  Conewago,  and 
Lancaster.  From  the  origin  of  these  missions,  they  were  in  part 
sustained  by  a  pious  legacy  of  an  English  Catholic,  Sir  John 
James,  whose  will  was  attacked ;  but  as  the  secret  of  his  trusts 
was  preserved,  the  poor,  and  especially  the  poor  Catholics  of 
Pennsylvania,  were  not  deprived  of  his  charitable  aid.  The  sum 
allotted  to  the  American  mission  was  one  hundred  poundp  ster- 
ling ;  but  as  the  principal  was  invested  in  French  funds,  his  pre- 
cious resource  often  in  time  of  war  failed  the  poor  Catholics  of 
Pennsylvania  and  their  still  poorer  missionaries.  The  latter  must 
have  been  in  great  need,  for  they  could  not  show  their  parishion- 
ers the  same  touching  hospitality  then  practised  in  Maryland. 
There  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Catholics  who  came  fasting  in 
order  to  approach  the  sacraments,  to  take  their  meal  with  the 
missionary;  and  the  distance  which  they  often  had  to  go  to 
reach  the  nearest  chapel  showed  the  propriety  of  this  patriarchal 
custom.  The  Pennsylvania  missions  received  aid  from  those  of 
Maryland,  by  virtue  of  instructions  given  by  the  Provincial  of 
England  on  the  2d  of  April,  1759  :  "The  Superior,  as  a  common 


tered  the  novitiate  at  Landsperge  in  1743,  and  became  a  professed  of  the 
four  vows  In  1761.  He  sought  the  China  mission,  but  to  his  disappointment 
was  transferred  to  the  English  province,  and  sent  to  Maryland  in  1752.  He 
died  at  Philadelphia  in  1781,  and  Father  Molyneux  pronounced  his  funeral 
oration,  paying  a  striking  homage  to  the  virtue  of  the  holy  missionary. 
Bishop  Bayley  declares  that  he  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity.  Catholic  Church 
in  New  York,  p.  42. 

*  Luke  Geisler,  born  in  Gennany  m  17;?5,  was  sent  to  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  there,  August  11, 1786. 


I      i 


216 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Father,  must,"  says  Father  Corbie,  "  assist  the  needy  out  of  the 
surplus  of  the  more  opulent  settlements,  putting  all,  both  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland,  in  the  vita  communis^  or  the  ordinary 
way  of  living,  and  succor  them,  in  their  incidental  losses  and 
burdens,  with  the  bowels  of  true  Christian  and  religious  charity."* 

Such  was  the  precarious  condition  of  Pennsylvania,  when,  in 
1784,  Father  John  Carroll  visited  Philadelphia.  He  had  re- 
cently been  appointed  Superior  of  the  clergy  of  the  United  States, 
with  power  to  administer  confirmation,  and  he  came  to  confer 
that  sacrament  on  the  Catholics,  as  well  as  to  ascertain  the  condi- 
tion and  wants  of  religion  there.  The  sacrament  of  confirmation 
had  never  before  been  conferred  in  any  city  in  the  land ;  many  a 
person  advanced  in  years  now  pressed  forward  to  receive  with 
child  jind  grandchild  that  sacrament  whose  vivifying  strength 
they  had  so  often  desired ;  and  the  remembrance  of  that  confirm- 
ation has  been  perpetuated  to  our  day. 

The  faithful  were  then  scattered  all  over  the  State,  rendering 
the  administration  of  the  sacraments  difficult,  and  each  mission- 
ary had  under  his  care  a  district  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  loug  by  thirty-five  broad.  Father  Carroll  was  satisfied 
with  the,  piety  and  regularity  of  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia ; 
he  found  them  well  instructed  in  their  religion,  but  he  saw 
that  the  two  churches,  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's,!  were  not  suf- 
ficient for  the  size  of  the  congregations,  and  that  the  pastors 
required,  as  they  truly  said,  the  aid  of  new  priests.  He  also  saw 
that  the  prejudice  against  Catholics  was  declining;  and  Mr. 
Campbell  admits  that  this  result  was  due  in  part  to  the  stay  at 


•  Campbell's  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll.  U.  S.  Catholic  Maga- 
zine, iv.  255. 

t  The  Ahb6  Robin,  a  chaplain  in  Rochambean's  army,  says :  "  The  Roman 
Catholics  have  two  chapels  in  Philadelphia,  froverned  by  a  Jesnit  and  a 
German.  They  estimate  the  number  of  their  flocks  at  eleven  hundred  or 
twelve  hundred." 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


217 


5ut  of  the 
1  in  Penn- 
ordinary 
losses  and 
charity."* 
I,  when,  in 
e  had  re- 
ted  States, 
to  confer 
the  condi- 
•nfirmation 
1 ;  many  a 
jceive  with 
strength 
at  confirm- 


,  rendering 
jh  mission- 
and  thirty 
IS  satisfied 
iladelphia ; 
lit  he  saw 
3re  not  suf- 
the  pastors 
le  also  saw 
;  and  Mr. 
the  stay  at 


ttholio  Maga- 

*  The  Roman 
Jesuit  and  a 
[  hundred  or 


Philadelphia  of  the  representatives  of  France  and  Spain,  as  well 
as  to  the  presence  of  the  staff  of  the  French  army  and  fleet.  The 
chaplains  of  the  army  had  during  the  war  celebrated  Mass  in  the 
city  churches;  and  Congress  more  than  once  attended  to  do 
honor  to  the  French  officera.  Intelligent  Protestants,  disposed  at 
first  from  courtesy  to  respect  the  creed  of  their  allies,  learned  at 
the  same  time  to  tolerate  it  in  their  fellow-citizens.  Catholics 
had,  moreover,  displayed  their  patriotism  in  the  Revolution.  We 
have  shown  it  in  Maryland  in  the  illustrious  family  of  Carroll. 
At  Philadelphia,  Moylan,  Fitzsimmons,  men  of  eminence,  gave 
the  army  and  Congress  striking  marks  of  their  courage  and 
patriotism,  as  well  as  of  their  devotedness  to  the  true  faith.  Com- 
modore Bariy,  the  most  celebrated  naval  commander  of  the  Revo- 
lution, was  a  sincere  Catholic,  who,  at  his  death,  made  a  consid- 
erable bequest  for  pious  uses.  The  ranks  of  the  American  army 
contained  many  Irishmen — one  of  the  Pennsylvania  regiments 
even  got  the  name  of  the  Irish  Brigade — and  when  the  Catholics 
in  a  body  addressed  Washington,  congratulating  him  on  his 
election  to  the  Presidency,  the  General  did  them  but  justice  when 
in  his  reply  he  said :  "  I  presume  that  your  fellow-citizens  will 
not  forget  the  patriotic  part  which  you  took  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  Revolution  and  the  establishment  of  their  govern- 
ment, or  the  important  assistance  which  they  received  from  a 
nation  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  is  professed."* 

At  the  close  of  the  war  a  solemn  Te  Deum  was  chanted  in  St. 
Joseph's  Church,  at  the  request  of  the  Marquis  de  la  Luzerne, 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  Court  of  France.  He  invited  to 
it  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  the  Assembly  and  State 
Council  of  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  the  principal  generab  and 
distinguished  citizens.  Washington  was  present,  as  well  as  La- 
fayette, and  the  Abbe  Bandale,  Chaplain  of  the  Embassy  of  His 

*  Sparks'  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington,  xii. 

10 


218 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Most  Christian  Majesty,  addressed  a  most  eloquent  discourse  to 
the  crowded  audience. 

"  Who  but  He,"  exclaimed  the  sacred  orator,  "  He  in  whose 
hands  are  the  hearts  of  men,  could  inspire  the  allied  troops  with 
the  friendship,  the  confidence,  the  tenderness  of  brothers  ?  How 
is  it  that  two  nations  once  divided,  jealous,  inimical,  and  nursed 
in  reciprocal  prejudices,  are  now  become  so  closely  united  as  to 
form  but  one  ?  Worldlings  would  say  it  is  the  wisdom,  the  vir- 
tue, and  moderation  of  their  chiefs ;  it  is  a  great  national  interest 
which  has  performed  this  prodigy.  They  will  say  that  to  the 
skill  of  generals,  to  the  courage  of  the  troops,  to  the  activity  oi 
the  whole  army,  we  must  attribute  this  splendid  success.  Ah ! 
they  are  ignorant  that  the  combining  so  many  fortunate  circum- 
stances is  an  emanation  from  the  all-perfect  Mind  :  that  courage, 
that  skill,  that  activity,  bear  the  sacred  impression  of  Him  who  is 
divine.  .  .  .  Let  us  beseech  the  God  of  mercy  to  shed  on  the  council 
of  the  king  of  France,  your  ally,  that  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  justice  and 
of  mercy,  which  has  rendered  his  reign  glorious.  Let  us  likewise 
entreat  the  God  of  wisdom  to  maintain  in  each  of  the  States  that 
intelligence  by  which  the  United  States  are  inspired.  .  .  .  Let  us 
oflfer  Him  pure  hearts,  unsullied  by  private  hatred  or  public  dis- 
sension ;  and  let  us,  with  one  will  and  one  voice,  pour  forth  to 
the  Lord  that  hymn  of  praise  by  which  Christians  celebrate  their 
gratitude  and  his  glory — Te  Deum  LaudamusV* 

We  have  already  said  it,  Protestantism  can  lay  no  claim  to 
the  honor  of  having  established  the  toleration  which  Catholics 
enjoyed  in  the  United  States  after  the  Revolution.  Policy  and 
necessity  marked  out  the  line  of  conduct  which  was  adopted ; 
and  we  are  not  alone  in  our  opinion.  An  American  historian 
says,  "France,  Catholic  France,  was  now  solicited;  she  was 
asked,  and  not  in  vain,  to  lend  her  armies  to  the  cause  of  the 


*  The  Catholics  during  the  Revolution.    Catholic  Herald,  Philadelphia, 
May,  1855. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


219 


Revolution.  French  troops  landed  at  Boston,  and  amid  the  ridi- 
cule of  the  English  party,  the  selectmen  of  the  capital  of  New 
England  followed  a  crucifix  through  the  streets !  A  French  fleet 
enters  Narragansett  Bay,  and  a  law  excluding  Catholics  from 
civil  rights  is  repealed !  French  troops  are  at  Philadelphia,  and 
Congress  goes  to  Mass  I  Necessity  compelled  this  adaptation  of 
the  outer  appearance,  and,  perhaps,  to  some  extent,  calmed  the 
rampant  prejudice  of  former  days.  With  a  Catholic  ally,  the 
government  could  not  denounce  Catholicity.  In  the  constitution 
adopted,  it  washed  its  hands  of  the  matter,  and  Congress  refused 
to  assume,  as  one  of  its  powers,  a  right  to  enter  the  sphere  of  re- 
ligion. It  was  left  to  the  several  States  to  have  any  religion  or 
none  but  the  general  government,  the  only  medium  of  commu- 
nication with  foreign  States,  could  always  profess  its  tolerance, 
even  though  twelve  of  the  thirteen  should  proscribe  the  faith  of 
Columbus." 

In  1*784,  at  the  time  of  Father  John  Carroll's  visit  to  Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania  probably  numbered  seven  thousand  Catholics, 
and  this  is  the  estimate  given  by  the  Superior  to  Cardinal  Anto- 
nelli  in  the  following  year.  In  a  letter  dated  July  22,  1*788,  and 
addressed  to  some  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  Father  Carroll  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  that  an  episcopal  See  would  soon  be  required 
for  the  United  States,  and  that  Philadelphia  would  be  the  favored 
city :  "  I  have  eveiy  reason  to  believe  that  a  bishop  will  be  granted 
to  us  in  a  few  months,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  Phila- 
delphia will  be  the  episcopal  See."  This  conjecture  was  probably 
based  on  the  fact  that  Congress  then  held  its  sessions  in  that  city, 
and  that  Philadelphia  was  considered  as  the  capital  of  the  United 
States ;  but,  as  we  have  elsewhere  seen,  the  clergy  summoned  to 
deliberate  on  the  choice  of  the  episcopal  city,  gave  the  preference 
to  Baltimore.  Himself  created  bishop  in  1*790,  Dr.  Carroll  gov- 
erned Philadelphia  by  a  Vicar-general,  Father  Francis  Anthony 
Fleming,  an -able  controvertist,  who  was  succeeded  in  his  import- 


220 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


ant  post  by  Father  Leonard  Neale.  Father  Fleming  was  one  of 
the  first  of  the  Catholic  clergy  to  defend  the  Catholic  cause  when 
assailed.  In  1782,  Mr.  Miers  Fisher,  a  member  of  the  Assembly, 
having  remarked  in  a  discussion  that  lotteries  were  like  the  Pope's 
indulgences,  "  forgiving  and  permitting  sins  to  raise  money,"  Mr. 
Fleming  called  attention  to  it  as  unworthy  of  a  man  of  standing ; 
and  the  member,  with  a  degree  of  courtesy  rare  in  our  days, 
apologized  for  any  unintentional  offence  which  he  might  have 
given  the  Catholic  body ;  but  a  new  assailant  having  come  for- 
ward with  the  oft-repeated  tale  of  the  Pope's  chancery.  Father 
Fleming  replied  by  citing  an  equally  authentic  Protestant  tariff, 
in  which  the  crime  of  "  inventing  any  lies,  however  abominable 
or  ati'ocious,  to  blacken  the  Papists,"  is  forgiven  for  the  moderate 
sum  of  one  penny ;  and  "  setting  fire  to  a  popish  church,"  two 
pence;  which  has  since  proved  a  higher  rate  than  the  witty 
Father  set  down.  The  anonymous  assailant  renewed  the  attack, 
and  unable  to  produce  any  evidence  in  favor  of  the  pretended 
list,  attempted  to  raise  new  issues,  charging  Catholics  with  idola- 
try, persecution,  etc. ;  but  Father  Fleming  held  him  to  his  asser- 
tion, and  after  refuting  that,  disposed  of  his  other  charges, 
completely  silencing  the  accuser.  To  remove  prejudice  still 
more,  he  published  the  letters  in  book  form,  for  wider  and  perma- 
nent circulation.  In  reply  to  the  charge  of  persecution  and  in- 
tolerance, he  cited  the  penal  laws  of  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland,  and  adds:  "But  the  greatest  wonder  of  all  ^.amains  to 
be  mentioned.  Tell  it  not  in  Gath — publish  it  not  in  the  streets 
of  Askalon — lest  the  bigots  rejoice  and  the  daughters  of  popery 
triumph.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  among  the  en- 
lightened, talented,  and  liberal  Protestants  of  America,  at  the 
very  instant  when  the  American  soil  was  di'inking  up  the  best 
blood  of  Catholics,  shed  in  defence  of  her  freedom ;  when  the 
Gallic  flag  was  flying  in  her  ports  and  the  Gallic  soldiers  fighting 
Her  battles,  then  were  constitutions  framed  in  several  States  de- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


221 


grading  those  very  Catholics,  and  excluding  them  »..  ^m  certain 
offices.  O  shame,  where  is  thy  blush  I  0  gratitude !  if  thou 
hast  a  tear,  let  it  fall  to  deplore  this  indelible  stigma !" 

Father  Fleming  and  Father  Gressel,  his  companion,  gave  a 
still  better  proof  of  the  claims  of  Catholicity  in  the  yellow  fever 
which  desolated  Philadelphia  in  1*793.*  While  that  epidemic 
was  making  its  fearful  ravages  in  that  city,  these  two  Catholic 
priests,  as  usual,  braved  the  disease,  and  devoted  themselves  to  the 
care  and  consolation  of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  both  laid  down 
their  lives  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties — true  martyrs  of  charity .f 

In  1*790  the  faithful  at  Philadelphia  beheld  the  arrival  among 
them  of  Dr.  Matthew  Carr,  a  Hemiit  of  St.  Augustine,  belonging 
to  one  of  the  oldest  religious  orders  in  Christianity,  and  a  com- 
munity of  which  has  for  the  last  sixty-five  years  uninterruptedly 
exercised  the  holy  ministry  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Irish  and 
English  Augustinians  were  erected  into  a  distinct  province,  early 
in  the  fifteenth  century ;  and  other  houses  were  very  numerous 
at  the  epoch  of  Henry  VIII.'s  religious  rebellion.  When  the  first 
fury  of  the  persecution  had  spent  itself,  the  Augustinians  who  had 

*  From  Wansey's  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, Salisbury,  1796,  we  find  that  of  fourteen  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
burials  in  Philadelphia,  from  August  Ist,  1792,  to  August  1st,  1793,  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six  were  in  St.  Mary's,  twenty-nine  in  Holy  Trinity,  and 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four  in  Pottersfield;  and  that  in  the  following  year, 
that  of  the  fever,  out  of  four  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-two,  three 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  were  buried  in  St.  Mary's,  sixty-six  in  Holy  Trinity, 
and  fifteen  hundred  and  ninety-eight  in  Pottersfield. 

t  Father  Lawrence  Louis  Gressel  was  born  at  Rumansfelden,  in  Bavaria, 
August  18, 1758.  During  the  six  years  which  he  spent  in  Philadelphia  he  was 
distingiiished  for  piety,  zeal,  and  mildness.  Bishop  Carroll  had  proposed  him 
at  Rome  as  his  coadjutor,  and  he  would  doubtless  have  been  appointed  but 
for  his  premature  death,  which  took  place  in  October,  1793.  The  Rev.  Fran- 
cis Anthony  Fleming  was  apparently  a  Father  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  but 
his  name  does  not  appear  in  Oliver's  collection.  His  little  work  is  entitled 
"  The  Calumnies  of  Verus ;  or.  Catholics  vindicated  from  certain  old  slan- 
ders lately  revived ;  in  a  series  of  letters,  published  in  different  gazettes 
at  Philadelphia,  collectod  and  revised  by  Verax,  with  the  addition  of  a  pre- 
face and  a  few  notes.    Philadelphia:  Johnson  &  Justice,  1792." 


222 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


not  left  Ireland  rebuilt  twelve  houses  on  the  ruins  of  their  former 
monastenes,  and  at  the  present  time  some  forty  of  these  religious 
display  their  zeal  in  the  first  missions.  In  England  the  White 
Friars  have  not  reappeared  since  the  formation  of  the  Church  by 
law  established.  Those  in  Ireland  long  sent  their  novices  to  the 
convents  of  France  and  Italy,  to  receive  the  solid  and  extended 
instruction  which  the  misery  of  the  times  prevented  their  receiv- 
ing at  home ;  thus  Dr.  Carr  was  brought  up  in  the  Augnstinian 
colleges  of  Paris  and  Bordeaux.  He  was  afterwards  for  several 
years  attached  to  a  church  of  his  order  in  Dublin,  but  in  1*790 
came  to  Philadelphia,  and  built  St.  Augustine's  Church,  which 
was  opened  to  worship  and  solemnly  dedicated  in  1800.  Doctor 
Carr  was  successively  assisted  in  the  ministry  by  the  Augastinians, 
Rossiter,  Staunton,  Larissey,  and  Hurley.  He  died  in  1819,  and 
his  successor,  as  Superior,  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hurley,  who  died  in 
1837.  Since  then  the  Commissary-general  in  the  United  States 
of  the  Order  of  Hermits  of  St.  Augustine  h.is  been  the  Very  Rev. 
P.  E.  Moriarty.  Besides  their  church  in  /  niladelphia,  the  Au- 
gustinians  serve  the  parish  churches  of  St.  Dennis  at  Haverford, 
St.  Charles  at  Kellyville,  St.  Mary's  at  Chestnut  Hill,  and  St. 
Nicholas  of  Tolentino  at  Atlantic  City,  the  last-named  place  being 
in  the  diocese  of  Newark.  They  have  also  founded  the  monas- 
tery and  flourishing  college  of  Villanova,  where  young  men  re- 
ceive a  finished  and  Catholic  education.* 

*  We  are  indebted  for  these  details  to  the  kindness  of  the  Very  Rev. 
Father  Moriarty,  to  whom  we  express  our  acknowledgment.  St.  Augustine 
founded  the  Order  of  Hermits,  in  Africa,  in  888,  and  gave  them  a  rule. 
They  were  dispersed  by  the  Vandals  in  428,  and  some  took  refuge  in  Sar- 
dinia, Naples,  and  Languedoc,  where  they  founded  monasteries.  St. 
Patrick,  who  had  embraced  the  rule  in  Tuscany,  before  his  consecration, 
introduced  it  into  Ireland,  where  Auguatinian  communities  became  very 
numerous.  Till  1256  they  had  no  common  centre,  but  at  that  time  Pope 
Alexander  IV.  united  them  all,  and  gave  them  a  constitution.  The  first 
General  was  Lanfranc  Septala,  and  since  then  the  Prior-general  has  always 
resided  at  Rome.  The  Ursulines,  Hospital  Nuns,  and  many  congregationa 
of  Sisters,  also  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine. 


f 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


223 


At  the  outset  of  this  century,  the  Pennsylvania  mission  re- 
ceived a  precious  reinforcement  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Adolphus 
Louis  de  Barth,  who  was  appointed  to  the  mission  of  Lancaster, 
and  there  displayed  the  most  admirable  zeal.*  In  1802  he  had 
as  assistant  the  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  an  Irish  Franciscan  of  the 
Strict  Observance,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the  United  States, 
and  both,  in  their  poverty  as  missionaries,  found  aid  and  assist- 
ance in  a  generous  Catholic,  Mr.  John  Risdal,  whose  hand  was 
ever  open  in  the  cause  of  religion.  A  letter  from  Father  Egan 
to  Bishop  Carroll,  dated  Lancaster,  February  10,  1803,  speaks  of 
this  zealous  gentleman,  and  Father  Achille  Guid6e,  in  his  bio- 
graphical notice  of  Father  De  Clorivi^re,  says  that  that  celebrated 
Jesuit,  while  cur6  near  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  from  1780  to  1790, 
converted  several  Protestants  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  among 
others,  Mr.  John  Risdal.  "  The  return  of  this  gentleman  to  the 
true  faith  was  a  precious  conquest  for  religion,  to  which  he  ren- 
dered important  service,  especially  in  Lancaster  and  Philadelphia, 
in  the  United  States."f 

By  an  apostolic  rescript,  of  September  29, 1804,  Father  Michael 
iCgan  had  been  authorized  to  found  a  province  of  his  Order  in  the 
United  States,  but  his  project  had  no  success.  The  young  Fran- 
ciscan was  then  appointed  to  St.  Mary's  Church,  Philadelphia, 
and  there  won  the  confidence  of  Bishop  Carroll.  The  Bishop  of 
Baltimore  beheld  his  administration  embarrassed  at  Philadelphia 
by  the  most  painful  difficulties.     He  had  to  resist  the  pretensions 


*  Adolph  Louis  de  Barth  was  born  at  Munster  in  1774,  studied  at  Bellay, 
and  entered  the  seminary  of  Strasburg.  He  was  scarcely  ordained  when  the 
Revolution  drove  him  from  France,  and  even  from  Munster,  whence  he  re- 
paired to  America.  He  was  at  first  employed  in  Maryland,  but  was  soon 
sent  to  Lancaster.  He  was  Vicar-general  and  administrator  from  1814  to 
1820,  then  pastor  of  Conewago,  and  in  1828,  rector  of  St.  John's,  Baltimore. 
In  1888  his  infirmities  and  years  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Georgetown 
College,  where  he  died  piously,  in  October,  1844. 

t  Guidee,  Vie  du  P.  Joseph  Varin  et  de  quelques  autres  Pdres  Jemites. 
Paris,  1854,  p.  250. 


224 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


t 


^ 


of  the  trustees  of  the  Gerraan  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  who 
claimed  the  right  of  patronage,  and  who  fomented  a  schism  in 
which  they  were  encouraged  by  two  interdicted  priests.  At  last, 
after  five  years'  rebellion,  the  trustees  submitted  to  the  episcopal 
authority  in  1802.  In  the  month  of  December,  1800,  Bishop 
Carroll  addressed  Cardinal  di  Fietro,  insisting  on  the  necessity  of 
founding  four  new  Sees — Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and 
Bardstown.  Pius  VII.  decreed  this  foundation  by  his  brief  of 
April  8,  1809,  and  appointed  Father  Michael  Egan  Bishop  o 
Philadelphia ;  but  we  have  already  told  by  what  a  train  of  acci- 
dents and  misfortunes  the  bulls  of  institution  were  prevented  from 
reaching  Baltimore  till  September,  1810. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

DIOCESE    OF    PHILADELPHIA — (1810-1884). 

The  Bt  Bev.  Micbnel  EgAn,  first  bishop— Very  Bev.  Louis  de  Earth,  administrator— 
Et  Bev.  Henry  Couwell,  second  bishop — Schism  of  St  Mary's  Cimrch— Very  Bev. 
William  Mathews,  administrator — Bt  Bev.  Francis  P.  Kenrlck,  coadjutor,  then  third 
bishop— Beligious  condition  of  the  diocese  in  1884 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Egan  was  consecrated  October  28th, 
1810,  in  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Baltimore.  Archbishop  Carroll 
officiated  on  that  occasion,  assisted  by  his  coadjutor,  Bishop 
Neale,  and  Father  William  Vincent  Harold,  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic,  preached  the  usual  serinon.  The  new  prelate  had  been 
recommended  for  this  See  to  the  Congregation  of  the  Propa- 
ganda, and  was  selected  by  Archbishop  Carroll  "as  a  truly- pious 
and  learned  religious,  remarkable  for  his  great  humility,  but 
deficient,  perhaps,  in  firmness,  and  without  great  experience  in  the 


IN  THE   UNITKU  STATES. 


'225 


direction  of  affaire."  For  these  reasons  the  name  of  Father  Egan 
was  only  becond  on  the  list  sent  to  Cardinal  di  Pietro,  although 
at  the  close  of  the  letter,  the  prelate  declared  that  ho  preferred 
him  to  the  others.  And  Archbishop  Carroll  expressed  himself 
still  more  oategorically  in  a  letter  of  June  17,  1807,  where  he 
said  of  Father  Egan :  "  He  is  a  man  of  about  fifty,  who  seems 
endowed  with  all  the  qualities  to  discharge  with  perfection  the 
functions  of  the  episcopacy,  except  that  he  lacks  robust  health, 
greater  experience,  and  a  greater  degree  of  firmness  in  his  dispo- 
sition. He  is  a  learned,  modest,  humble  priest,  who  maintains 
the  spirit  of  his  Order  in  his  whole  conduct."* 

Bishop  Egan  governed  his  diocese  with  zeal  and  piety ;  but, 
according  to  the  prognostic  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  he  was  defi- 
cient in  necessary  firmness,  as  he  showed  in  a  very  serious  con- 
troversy with  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  his  cathedral. 
These  trustees  thus  preluded  the  deplorable  schism  which,  at  a 
later  date,  was  to  desolate  the  diocese.  The  ground  on  which 
this  church  is  built  had  been  granted  to  Father  Robert  Harding, 
in  1763,  under  the  express  condition  of  erecting  there  a  chapel, 
which  he,  in  fact,  did.  The  church  was  successively  transferred 
by  will  from  Father  Harding  to  the  Rev.  John  Lewis,  and  by  the 
latter  to  Father  Molyneux,  and  finally  to  Father  Francis  Neale. 
At  last,  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  (passed 
Sept  13,  1788),  a  body  of  trustees  was  recognized  as  a  body 
politic,  and  incorporated  to  administer  the  finances  of  the  church. 

In  1810  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  edifice,  and  these 
new  erections  gave  rise  to  conflicts  of  authority  with  the  bishop, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  trustees  set  up  claims  to  be  consulted 
in  the  choice  of  their  pastors,  and  unfortunately.  Father  Harold 
and  his  uncle  arrayed  themselves  in  a  measure  against  the  bishop. 
This  was  the   more  to  be  regretted,  as  the  younger  Harold, 


*  Archives  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 
10* 


226 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


though  a  man  of  eminent  qualities  and  striking  defects,  was  full 
of  real  eloquence  and  virtue,  but  marred  his  transcendent  merit 
by  the  asperity  of  his  temper. 

In  spite  of  these  troubles,  which  shortened  his  days,  Bishop 
Egan  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  foundation  of  a  colony  of  the 
Sisters  ot  Charity  at  Philadelphia,  to  take  care  of  an  orphan 
asylum.  In  1797  a  charitable  association  had  been  organized  in 
the  city  to  harbor  orphans  whose  parents  had  been  carried  off  by 
the  yellow  fever.  These  poor  children  were  confided  to  a  pious 
lady,  and  lodged  in  a  house  near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity; 
but,  from  the  very  first,  resources  were  precarious,  and  the  asylum 
was  maintained  only  by  the  persevering  efforts  of  Father  Michael 
Hurley,  pastor  of  St.  Augustine's  in  1807,  and  by  the  generous  aid 
of  a  layman,  Mr.  Cornelius  Thiers.  It  needed  a  religious  institute 
to  undertake  the  direction  of  this  asylum,  and  the  trustees  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  resolved,  in  1814,  to  ask  Sisters  of  Charity  from 
Emmetsburg.  It  was  the  first  colony  sent  by  Mother  Seton  from 
her  rising  community,  and  the  holy  foundress  welcomed  this 
opening  with  joy.  Three  Sisters  were  appointed,  with  Sister  Rose 
White  as  Superior,*  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  September  29, 
1814.  They  took  possession  of  the  asylum,  which  contained 
thirteen  children,  in  rags,  groaning  under  the  weight  of  a  debt  of 
four  thousand  dollars.  Their  early  efforts  were  crossed  by  trials, 
but  three  years  after  they  had  paid  the  debt,  and  the  orphan 
asylum  now  contains  a  hundred  children,  while  the  boys,  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred  and  six,  occupy  another  asylum,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph. 


*  Sister  Rose  White  was  a  pious  widow,  born  in  Maryland,  in  1784,  and 
was  one  of  the  first  to  join  Mother  Seton  to  found  in  America  tlie  Order  of 
Sisters  of  Charity.  On  the  death  of  the  foundress,  Sister  Rose  was  elected 
Superior-general,  and  was  re-elected  by  her  Society  as  often  as  the  constitu- 
tion permitted,  thus  receiving  a  proof  of  their  confidence  in  her  wisdom, 
virtue,  and  aptitude  for  government.  She  died  in  Maryland,  July  2Bth, 
1841. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


227 


Bishop  Egan  did  not  live  long  enough  to  see  his  diocese 
adorned  by  the  presence  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  He  expired 
on  the  22d  of  July,  1814,  and  on  his  death,  the  Very  Rev.  Louis 
de  Barth  was  appointed  administrator  of  the  diocese.  In  the 
month  of  January,  1815,  Archbishop  Carroll  wrote  to  Rome  to 
ask  that  the  vacancy  should  be  filled,  and  renewed  his  request  in 
the  month  of  July.  The  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal  was  nominated 
Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  but  he  refused  the  See,  and  the  Court  of 
Rome  did  not  insist,  because  it  wished  to  call  him  then  to  the 
more  important  post  of  Coadjutor  of  Baltimore. 

The  Rev.  John  Baptist  David,  afterwards  Coadjutor  of  Louis- 
ville, was  also  proposed  at  Rome  for  the  See  of  Philadelphia,  but 
he  hastened  to  write  to  the  Propaganda,  to  beg  them  not  to  think 
of  him.  The  ability  with  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth  adminis- 
tered the  diocese,  next  pointed  him  out  for  the  episcopacy ;  but 
such  an  honor  disconcerted  his  modesty ;  he  twice  successively 
refused  the  See,  and  once  sent  back  to  Rome  the  bulls  of  in- 
vestiture. Every  one  shrunk  from  a  burden  rendered  particularly 
heavy  by  the  spirit  of  independence  and  revolt  which  fomented 
among  the  bodies  of  trustees.  At  last,  in  1830,  the  Very  Rev. 
Henry  Con  well.  Vicar-general  of  the  diocese  of  Armagh,  in  Ireland, 
accepted  the  post,  ignorant,  doubtless,  of  its  many  difficultiesr 
He  was  consecrated  in  London,  by  Bishop  Poynter.  He  was 
then  seventy-three  years  old,  and  immediately  embarked  for  the 
United  States,  where  the  bitterest  trials  and  c^res  awaited  him. 
The  long  schism  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Philadelphia,  has  been  a 
long  scandal  to  religion,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  relate  briefly  the 
sad  story,  in  order  to  serve  as  a  lesson  to  imprudent  laymen,  who 
believe  that  they  show  zeal  in  exceeding  theii:  duty  and  invading 
that  of  the  clergy  and  episcopate. 

In  1818  or  1819,  William  Hogan,  a  young  priest  of  inferior 
education  but  good  natural  parts,  who  had  beea  dismissed  from 
Maynooth  for  a  breach  of  discipline,  left  the  diocese  of  Limerick 


228 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


and  embarked  for  New  York.  He  was  first  employed  on  the 
ministry  at  Albany,  but  left  that  city,  against  the  wish  of  Dr.  Con- 
nolly, then  Bishop  of  New  York,  and  was  temporarily  installed  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth,  administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia, 
as  temporary  pastor  at  St.  Mary's.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1820, 
Bishop  Conwell  took  possession  of  his  See,  and  having  had  reason 
to  suspect  Mr.  Hogan's  conduct  in  Ireland,  on  his  passage,  at 
Albany  and  Philadelphia,  he  withdrew  his  faculties  on  the  20th 
of  Pecember,  1820.  Hogan  continued  to  officiate  at  St.  Mary's, 
in  spite  of  the  censures  of  his  bishop,  and  the  refusal  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Baltimore  to  entertain  his  appeal.  Bishop  Con- 
well  accordingly  excommunicated  Hogan  on  the  11th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1821,  and  in  the  course  of  the  spring,  appointed  as  pastor, 
the  Rev.  James  Cummiskey,  associating  with  him  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hayden,  whom  he  had  ordained  on  the  1st  of  May. 
The  bishop  and  his  clergy  occupied  the  church  for  some  months, 
though  very  much  annoyed  by  Hogan  and  his  party,  who  threat- 
ened to  take  possession  of  St.  Mary's,  and  finally  did  so  in  the 
summer  of  1821. 

In  August,  Bishop  England,  of  Charleston,  stopped  in  Phila- 
delphia on  his  way  to  New  York,  and  though  he  did  not  wait  on 
Bishop  Conwell,  was  soon  found  to  be  much  prejudiced  against 
the  latter.  While  at  New  York  he  was  visited  by  Hogan,  and 
wrote  to  Bishop  Conwell,  offering  his  mediation ;  and  so  deluded 
was  he  by  the  rebellious  priest  and  his  party,  that  he  concluded 
his  letter  by  saying :  "  I  pledge  myself  to  you,  and  I  would  not 
do  so  thoughtlessly,  that  if  you  grant  what  I  ask,  you  will  uphold 
and  preserve  religion ;  but  should  you  refuse  it,  you  will  be  the 
cause  of  its  destruction." 

Bishop  Conwell  by  no  means  approved  the  steps  taken  by  the 
Bishop  of  Charleston,  and  peremptorily  declined  his  mediation. 
However,  when  Bishop  England,  in  returning  to  his  See,  stopped 
at   Phil.'Klelphia  in  October,  the  bishop  was  induced  to  yield  to 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


229 


his  request ;  and  Bishop  England,  having  promised  Mr.  Hogan  a 
mission  in  his  own  diocese,  obtained  powers  from  Bishop  Conwell 
to  absolve  him  on  a  proper  submission.  Hogan  readily  promised 
all  that  was  required,  and  Bishop  England  absolved  him  on  the 
18th  of  October,  1821 ;  but  the  very  next  day,  Hogan,  hearken- 
ing to  the  fatal  advice  of  the  trustees,  retracted,  again  said  Mass 
at  St.  Mary's,  and  resumed  his  functions  as  pastor.  Bishop  Eng- 
land, who  had  believed  so  implicitly  in  Hogan's  good  faith,  saw 
all  his  plans  thus  defeated,  and  so  far  from  being  able  to  carry 
out  his  promise,  was  in  turn  obliged  to  re-excommunicate  the 
wretched  Hogan. 

This  was  not  the  only  eflfort  to  restore  peace.  Several  friends 
of  the  bishop,  admirers  of  the  Dominican  Father,  William  V. 
Harold,  once  stationed  at  Philadelphia,  prevailed  upon  Bishop 
Conwell  ♦o  invite  him  to  return,  fully  persuaded  that  Hogan  would 
be  at  once  abandoned.  Father  Harold  was  then  Prior  of  a  house 
of  his  Order  in  Lisbon,  and  joyfully  accepted  the  offer  of  a  pastor- 
ship of  a  church  to  which  he  was  so  much  attached  as  St.  Mary's, 
but  informed  the  bishop  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  latter 
to  write  to  Rome  in  order  to  obtain  the  acceptance  of  his  resigna- 
tion as  Prior.  Meanwhile,  Bishop  Conwell,  to  his  great  chagrin, 
learaed  that  Father  Harold  and  his  uncle,  Father  William  Harold, 
Lad  been  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to  his  predecessor,  and 
that  the  uncle  had  first  stirred  up  the  trustees  of  St.  Maiy's  to 
revolt  against  their  bishop,  actually  circulating  anonymous  printed 
appeals.  Bishop  Conwell  now  retracted  the  invitation  to  the 
nephew,  but  Father  William  V.  Harold,  having  resigned  his 
priorship,  was  already  on  his  way,  and  on  the  2d  of  December, 
1821,  landed  in  Philadelphia,  to  the  great  joy  of  all  his  friends. 
The  Bishop  received  him  coldly,  but  installed  him  at  St.  Joseph's, 
and  made  him  his  secretary.  Father  Harold  did  not,  however, 
succeed  at  all  in  weaning  the  schismatics  from  Hogan. 

The  majority  of  the  Catholics  were  far  from  approving  the  con- 


230 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


duct  of  the  trustees.  Most  of  them  now  deserted  the  interdicted 
church,  and  followed  the  bishop,  who  had  withdrawn  to  St.  Jo- 
seph's. The  two  parties  became •  more  and  more  exasperated; 
the  orthodox  hoped  to  defeat  the  schismatics  by  electing  a  new 
Board  of  Trustees,  but  those  in  office  managed  to  secure  a  re- 
election by  multiplying  the  number  of  seats  in  the  church,  and 
letting  them  to  their  creatures.  Now,  as  every  male  occupant  of 
a  seat  was  an  elector,  whether  Jew  or  infidel,  the  majority  was 
thus  secured  for  the  revolt.  The  election  took  place  in  the  church 
on  Easter-day,  1822,  and  a  battle  ensued  in  the  sanctuary: 
the  disorder  was  frightful ;  blood  was  shed,  and  the  schismatics 
triumphed,  preserving  Hogan  as  pastor. 

At  the  close  of  the  same  year,  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
returned  from  Rome  to  the  United  States,  bringing  a  Papal  brief 
of  August  2, 1822,  which  solemnly  condemned  the  schismatics  of 
St.  Mary's.  Mr.  Hogan  promised  to  submit,  and  a  long  corre- 
spondence ensued  between  him  and  the  Rev.  William  V.  Harold, 
the  bishop's  secretary.  In  this,  bad  faith  is  everywhere  evident 
in  Hogan's  language.  Nevertheless,  he  made  his  submission  on 
the  10th  of  December,  1822,  and  the  same  day  received  from 
Bishop  Conwell  his  exeat  and  the  removal  of  the  censures  in- 
curred ;  but  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month,  the  unhappy  priest, 
circumvented  by  the  trustees,  relapsed  into  his  error ;  he  objected 
that  the  authenticity  of  the  Pontifical  brief  had  not  been  shown, 
and  continued  to  oflSciate  and  preach  at  St  Mary's.  The  guilty 
priest  published  the  most  violent  pamphlets  against  his  diocesan 
and  against  Bishop  England,  whojja  he  sought  to  compromise ; 
but  he  soon  tired  of  functions  which  he  rebelliously  exercised, 
and  which  were  a  check  to  his  passions.  He  left  Philadelphia, 
went  south,  married,  re-married,  became  a  custom-house  ofiicer  at 
Boston,  went  into  the  pay  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Catholicity, 
ever  disposed  to  foment  scandal;  and  successively  published 
against  the  Chiu*ch  three  infamous  books,  recently  reprinted  at 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


231 


Hartford  to  stimulate  the  Know-Nothing  movement.*  At  last, 
while  the  tutor  of  Leahy,  a  pretended  Trappist  monk,  and  an  ob- 
scene reviler  of  Catholic  truth,  he  died  of  the  palsy  in  185!I  or 
1852,  without  giving  any  sign  of  repentance — a  frightful  example 
of  the  pernicious  influence  of  the  trustee  system  which  Protes- 
tantism tries  to  force  on  the  Catholics.  Hogan  had  committed 
faults  at  first ;  but  he  repeatedly  showed  repentance  and  a  wish 
to  submit.  The  perfidious  counsels  of  revolted  laymen,  the  false 
glory  of  being  loved  and  flattered  by  a  part  of  his  parishioners, 
retained  him  in  sin,  and  hurried  him  on  from  lapse  to  lapse ;  and 
the  unworthy  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  remain  responsible  before  God 
for  no  small  part  of  the  crimes  of  the  unhappy  priest,  whom  they 
seduced  from  the  path  of  duty. 

The  trustees,  deprived  of  their  chosen  pastor,  wished  to  re- 
place him  worthily,  and  applied  at  first  to  the  celebrated  Angelo 
Inglesi,  whose  adventures  will  figure  in  another  part  of  this  his- 
tory ;  but  the  lax  manners  of  this  gentleman  alarmed  even  the 
unscrupulous  consciences  of  the  schismatico  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
they  named  in  his  place  the  Rev.  Thaddeus  O'Meally,  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Limerick.  This  clergyman  rejected  all  proposals  made 
by  Bishop  Conwell,  and  set  out  for  Rome  with  the  accusations 
of  the  trustees  against  the  Bishop  ;  b  t  he  listened  to  the  voice 
of  conscience,  and  submitting  at  Rome,  >n  the  25th  of  July,  1825, 
retired  to  a  convent  to  do  penance  for  his  fault.  Meanwhile, 
the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  having  drunk  the  cup  of  bitterness, 
weakened  by  six  years'  strife,  insult,  and  contempt,  at  last  agreed 
to  an  arrangement  in  which  he  thought  he  guaranteed  the  im- 
prescriptible rights  of  the  Church.  On  the  9th  of  October, 
1826,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  between  Bishop  Conwell  and 
the  trustees,  by  the  fourth  article  of  which  the  bishop  acknowl- 


*  Popery  as  it  Was  and  Is  :  by  William  Hogan.    Hartford :  Andrus.    Nun- 
ucries  and  Auricular  Confession :  by  William  Hogan.    Hartford :  Andrus. 


232 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


edges  in  the  latter  a  right  to  recommend  suitable  persons  to  be 
pastors  of  St.  Mary's,  on  the  following  conditions : 

The  bishop  shall  name  the  priests  and  notify  the  trustees.  If 
the  latter  do  not  find  them  to  be  properly  qualified  to  be  pastor 
or  assistant,  they  shall  present  their  objections  to  the  bishop.  It* 
the  bishop  persists,  he  shall  name  a  committee  of  three  ecclesi- 
astics, of  which  he  shall  form  one,  to  deliberate  with  a  commit- 
tee of  three  trustees ;  and  the  vote  of  this  committee  shall  be 
respected  by  the  bishop.  If  they  are  equally  divided,  two  arbi- 
trators shall  be  chosen,  and  their  vote  shall  decide. 

In  spite  of  the  satisfaction  which  this  treaty  gave  their  pre- 
tensions, the  trustees  followed  it  up  by  a  protest  which  they  pre- 
sented to  the  bishop,  and  which  the  latter  accepted.  By  this, 
they  declared  that  they  meant  in  no  respect  to  abandon  their 
rights,  and  that  they  will  claim  at  Rome,  that  in  future  no  bishop 
shall  be  named  without  the  recommendation  and  approbation  of 
the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  diocese. 

By  a  letter  of  October  11,  1826,  Bishop  Conwell  proclaimed 
an  amnesty,  raised  the  interdict  on  the  church,  and  then,  with 
the  concurrence  of  the  trustees,  appointed  as  pastors  the  Rev. 
William  V.  Harold  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hayden.  But  this 
fatal  compromise  was  a  bar  to  the  real  good  of  St.  Mary's.  Be- 
fore long  the  Rev.  Father  Harold,  the  Dominican,  during  twenty 
years  esteemed  for  his  zeal  and  eloquence,  came  into  collision 
with  the  bishop  in  regard  to  it,  and  by  his  impetuous  character 
was  hurried  into  open  disrespect,  even  into  contempt,  for  Bishop 
Conwell.  Meanwhile,  the  Propaganda,  at  the  tidings  of  a  de- 
plorable compromise  that  left  revolt  triumphant,  had  seriously 
taken  the  matter  up,  and  in  a  general  assembly  of  cardinals,  on 
the  30th  of  April,  1827,  declared  the  agreement  of  October  9th 
null  and  void,  as  an  infringement  on  the  ecclesiastical  authority. 
The  bishop  submitted  to  the  decree,  in  which  it  was  solemnly 
said,  that  "  Peter  had  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  Leo  ;"  and  by  a 


■•)T' 


m  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


233 


pastoral  of  July  22,  182*7,  he  proclaimed  the  abrogation  of  the 
agreement  as  condemned.  But  the  courageous  self-denial  of  the 
prelate  was  not  imitated  at  St.  Mary's,  where  the  zealous  Rev. 
Thomas  Hayden,  who  had  reluctantly  accepted  the  post,  had 
been,  to  his  great  joy,  succeeded  by  the  Dominican,  Father 
Ryan.  To  put  an  end  to  the  scandals.  Cardinal  Capellari,  on 
the  9th  of  March,  1828,  wrote  to  the  Rev.  William  Mathews, 
pastor  in  Washington,  acquainting  him  with  a  decision  which 
named  him  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia,  and 
requesting  him  to  ransmit  to  Bishop  Conwell  a  letter  which  in- 
vited him  to  Rome,  and  letters  from  the  Visitor-general  of  the 
Dominicans  to  Fathers  Harold  and  Ryan,  ordering  them  to  leave 
Philadelphia  and  proceed  to  a  convent  of  their  order  in  Ohio. 

The  unfortunate  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  immediately  set  out 
for  Rome,  and  remained  there  several  months ;  but  suddenly, 
fearing  that  he  might  not  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  diocese, 
he  precipitately  left  the  Eternal  City,  and  returned  to  America. 
However,  the  United  States  Consul  at  Rome  wrote,  on  the  8th 
of  May,  1829,  to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  that  his 
fear  was  groundless,  that  the  Propaganda  had  offered  no  oppo- 
sition to  Bishop  Conwell's  departure,  and  that  his  passports  had 
been  signed  without  any  hesitation.*  The  Rev.  William  Mathews 
preserved  the  post  of  Apostolic  Administrator  till  1830  ;f  but  he 
would  not  consent  any  longer  to  bear  so  heavy  a  burden,  and  at 


*  Bishop  England's  Works,  v.  229. 

t  The  Eev.  "William  Mathews,  born  in  Charles  county,  Maryland,  in  1770, 
m  vdo  his  classical  course  at  St.  Omers,  and  his  divinity  at  the  Sulpitian 
Seminary,  Baltimore.  Ordained  March,  1800.  He  was  the  seventh  ecclesi- 
astic promoted  to  the  priesthood  in  the  United  States,  and  the  first  native 
ordained  in  the  country.  He  died  on  the  80th  April,  1854,  universally 
revered  as  a  patriarch,  having  filled  the  priesthood  fifty-four  years,  and 
been  pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  in  Washington  for  over  half  a  century.  His 
temporary  functions  as  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelpliia  drew 
him  for  a  time  from  his  church,  but  ho  returned  to  it  as  soon  as  he  was 
able  to  resign  the  diocese  into  the  hands  of  Bishop  Kenrick. 


by      ' ' 


234 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  suggestion  of  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  in  1829,  with  the  con- 
sent of  Bishop  Conwell,  the  Right  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick 
was  elected  by  the  Holy  See  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia,  with 
powers  of  administrator.  The  consecration  of  this  prelate  took 
place  at  Bardstown  in  June,  1820,  and  was  celebrated  by  Bishop 
Flaget. 

The  two  Dominican  Fathers,  stationed  at  St.  Mary's,  did  not 
display  the  same  obedience  as  their  prelate.  But  of  all  con- 
duct open  to  them,  they  took  what  was  most  eccentric  and  ab- 
surd. This  was  to  complain  to  the  government,  at  Washington, 
and  ask  its  protection  against  the  Pope,  accusing  the  Court  of 
Rome  with  violating  their  individual  liberty  as  American  citi- 
zens, by  ordering  them  to  go  to  Cincinnati,  when  their  taste  in- 
duced them  to  prefer  Philadelphia  as  a  residence.  Henry  Clay, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  was  simple  enough  to  listen  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Fathers,  and  by  his  letter  of  July  9, 1828,  instruct- 
ed the  American  minister  at  Paris  to  see  the  Nuncio  and  seek 
justice  for  his  proteges.  The  polite  reply  of  the  pontifical  envoy 
probably  convinced  Clay  that  he  had  plunged  into  an  element 
not  his  own,  for  he  immediately  wrote  to  the  minister  at  Paris 
to  drop  the  matter. 

On  their  side,  the  two  Fathers,  doubtless,  saw  that  if  they  chose 
to  throw  off  the  character  of  Religious  and  Catholics,  the  Order 
would  have  no  power  over  them,  ar.d  they  might  in  liberty  enjoy 
all  civil  and  political  rights  as  ^.merican  citizens ;  but  that,  as 
long  as  they  remained  Dominicans,  they  were  bound  in  con- 
science to  submit  to  their  superiors  and  the  Holy  See.  In  1829, 
they  returned  separately  to  Ireland,  where  Father  John  Ryan 
died  some  years  since,  having  repaired  passing  errors  of  judg- 
ment by  a  long  and  exemplary  career.  Father  Harold,  after  be- 
ing Provincial  of  his  Order  in  Ireland,  and  long  revered  as  a 
holy  and  zealous  priest,  has  expired  while  this  work  is  passing 
through  the  press. 


the  con- 

Kenrick 

hia,  with 

ilate  took 

>y  Bishop 

did  not 

all  con- 

3  and  ab- 

ishingtoD, 

J  Court  of 

rican  citi- 

r  taste  in- 

enry  Clay, 

0  the  com- 

8,  instruct- 

[>  and  seek 

Ifical  envoy 

an  element 

ter  at  Paris 

'  they  chose 
I,  the  Order 
berty  enjoy 
but  that,  as 
ind  in  con- 
3.  In  1829, 
John  Ryan 
)i8  of  judg- 
Id,  after  be- 
Bvered  as  a 
c  is  passing 


.S 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


235 


The  great  prudence,  and  the  firm  yet  paternal  detei-mination 
of  Bishop  Kenrick,  restored  peace  to  St.  Mary's.  Difficulties 
again  arose  in  1831 ;  an^  tnis  is  no  wonder,  for  the  very  vice  of 
American  legislation  is  by  the  trustee  system  forced  into  the 
affairs  of  the  Church.  They  say  in  France,  that  the  republican 
form  of  government  would  be  a  very  good  one  for  angels.  We 
may  say  the  same  of  trusteeism :  as  it  exists  in  the  United 
States,  it  would  be  the  best  temporal  administration  for  saints. 
Unfortunately,  however,  all  the  laity  are  not  saints,  as  we  see  in 
the  many  schisms  the  system  has  caused,  and  especially  that  of 
St.  Mary's,  the  most  celebrated  and  scandalous  of  all.  The 
Right  Rev.  Henry  Conwell  lived  in  retirement  at  Philadelphia 
till  April  21,  1842,  when  he  expired,  at  the  age  of  ninety-four. 
Overwhelmed  with  infirmities  and  struck  with  blindness,  the 
prelate  supported  with  courageous  resignation  the  fearful  burden 
of  a  long  old  age,  in  the  midst  of  the  difficulties  which  have  as- 
sailed him.  Bishop  England  says  :  "  The  bishop  has  been  the 
greatest  sufferer  in  his  feelings,  in  his  income,  and  under  God, 
he  may  thank  his  virtue  alone  that  he  has  not  been  in  his  char- 
acter. That,  however,  has  been  but  burnished  in  the  collision  : 
were  he  a  hypocrite,  the  thin  washing  would  have  long  since 
been  rubbed  away,  for,  indeed,  the  applications  have  been  roughly 
used.  What  do  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia  desire,  better  than 
a  bishop  whose  character  will  outlive  the  test  of  four  years'  as- 
sailing such  as  he  has  met  with,  and  whose  firmness  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  principle  has  been  tested  as  his  has  been  ?  These 
are  qualities  not  to  be  every  day  or  easily  found."* 

By  the  death  of  Bishop  Conwell  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Kenrick  be- 
came titular  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  which  he  had  been  for 
upwards  of  twelve  years  the  administrator.    This  prelate,  now  at 


*  Bishop  England's  Works,  v.  198.  Our  account  of  the  schism  is  based 
chiefly  on  the  voluminous  documents  published  in  this  volume,  and  extend- 
ing from  page  109  to  282. 


286 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  head  of  the  American  hierarchy,  was  bom  in  Dublin,  on  the 
8d  of  December,  1797,  and  studied  divinity  at  Rome.  Having 
devoted  himself  to  the  American  missions  in  1821,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Kenrick  was  first  employed  in  Kentucky,  and  won  the  esteem 
and  regard  of  Bishop  Flaget.  That  patriarch  of  the  West  often 
speaks  in  his  correspondence  of  the  young  Irish  priest,  describing 
him  "  as  remarkable  for  his  piety,  extensive  acquirements,  the 
quickness  of  his  mind,  and  the  natural  eloquence  with  which  he 
expressed  himself."  The  jubilee  which  was  celebrated  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1826  and  1827,  gave  a  wide  field  to  the  zeal  and  talents 
of  Mr.  Kenrick.  He  attended  Bishcp  Flaget  in  the  pastoral  visi- 
tation of  his  vast  diocese,  everywhere  preaching  with  success  in 
edification  and  conversions;  and  at  Bardstown  he  gave  public 
conferences  on  religion,  answering  the  objections  of  Protestant 
ministers,  and  often  effectually  silencing  them.  Bishop  Flaget's 
attachment  to  his  you  ag  friend  was  so  great  that  the  news  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kenrick's  nomination  as  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia 
caused  the  venerable  bishop  deep  grief,  and  the  separation  was 
extremely  painful  to  both.  Bishop  Flaget  received  the  bulls  from 
Rome  on  the  Ist  of  May,  1830,  but  it  was  not  till  twenty-four 
hours  after  that  he  had  the  courage  to  hand  them  to  Mr.  Kenrick, 
80  difficult  had  it  been  for  him  to  resign  himself  to  the  loss  of 
one  of  the  most  brilliant  ornaments  of  the  clergy  of  his  diocese. 
This  tender  affection  of  Bishop  Flaget  is  too  honorable  to  the 
learned  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  for  us  to  omit  it  here. 

Of  this  period  of  Bishop  Kenrick's  life  we  find  an  incident 
worth  noting,  in  a  work  by  an  Italian  missionary. 

"He  was  then  (1820)  Professor  of  Theology  at  the  Seminary 
of  Bardstown.  The  missfionary  having  attended  some  of  his  lec- 
tures, was  not  a  little  surprised  at  the  ease  and  clearness  with 
which  he  developed  the  sacred  scenes  to  the  young  levites. 
Under  the  precious  mantle  of  humanity  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kenrick 
then  concealed  those  superior  virtues  with  which  God  had  en- 


tl 
tl 


.'/ 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


237 


dowed  him.  Let  me  here  tell,  to  the  honor  of  the  priesthood  and 
the  confusion  of  modem  philanthropists,  that  the  missionary  hav- 
ing one  evening  entered  the  Professor's  little  room,  had  the  con- 
soling surprise  to  find  the  bed  occupied  by  a  sick  beggar.  We 
do  not  know  by  what  accident  the  unfortunate  man  obtained 
such  a  privilege,  but  the  fact  is,  that  with  the  Professor's  permis- 
sion he  occupied  his  bed.  Such  an  example  of  tender  charity 
excited  in  the  spectator  a  strong  desire  to  imitate  it."* 

In  the  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  we  find  a  letter 
of  Bishop  Kenrick,  dated  January  4,  1834,  and  it  contains  inter- 
esting details  as  to  the  state  of  religion  in  the  diocese.  The  pre- 
late then  estimated  the  Catholic  population  of  his  diocese  at  one 
hundred  thousand,  chiefly  Germans  and  Irish.  "  But  the  French," 
he  added,  "  are  also  numerous,  especially  at  Philadelphia."  The 
presence  of  three  French  priests — Messrs.  Fouthouze  and  Guth, 
and  Father  Dubuisson,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus — gave  them  eveiy 
opportunity  of  preaching  their  religion.  One  of  these  often 
preached  in  their  language  at  the  German  church  of  St.  Mary, 
and  sometimes  also  at  St.  Mary's,  the  cathedral.  In  the  interior 
of  Pennsylvania  French  families  are  found  in  several  places.f  A 
notice  on  St.  Mary's  Church  also  says,  that  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century,  "  among  the  families  who  pretty  regularly  attended 
the  church,  were  several  French  families  of  rank  and  even  dis- 
tinction ;  and  although  death  and  the  instability  of  human  affairs 
have  diminished  their  numbers,  and  removed  most  of  them,  the 
descendants  of  some  of  these  families  are  still  parishioners  of  St. 
Mary's." 

In  1834,  Philadelphia  contained  twenty-five  thousand  Catho- 
lics and  five  churches,  each  attended  by  two  priests.  At  Easter, 
1833,  the  Jesuits  had  resumed  possession  of  St.  Joseph's  Church, 


*  Memorie  istoriche  ed  ediflcante  di  un  missionario  apostolico  dell  ordine 
del  predicatori  Melano,  1844,  p.  25. 
t  Annales  do  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  212-220. 

0 


238 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  old  residence  of  the  first  missionaries  of  the  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  previous  year  the  Rev.  John  Hughes  had  built 
St.  John's  Church,  aided  by  the  generosity  of  the  public,  and 
especially  that  of  a  French  gentlenaan,  Mr.  M.  A.  Frenaye,  who 
pledged  his  property  to  encourage  the  contractors  and  prevent 
the  work  from  stopping.*  In  the  interior  of  the  diocese  the 
faithful  were  less  provided  with  religious  aid,  in  consequence  of 
the  small  number  of  missionaries,  and  the  only  parishes  possess- 
ing fixed  pastors  who  celebrated  Mass  every  Sunday,  were  Pitts- 
burg, Conewago,  Loretto,  Manayunk,  and  Wilmington.  Among 
the  missions,  some  enjoyed  the  presence  of  the  pastors  three  times 
a  month,  such  as  Haycock,  Pottsville,  Lancaster,  Bedford,  and 
Chambersbm-g ;  others,  only  once  a  fortnight;  others  again, 
but  once  a  month ;  and  some  more  rarely  still,  as  the  wants  of 
other  missions  allowed  the  priests  time  to  visit  them.  Browns- 
ville, Carbondale,  Silver  Lake,  New  Castle,  Butler,  were  in  this 
situation,  although  churches  were  built  in  all.  "  The  missiona- 
ries," wrote  Bishop  Kenrick,  "  are  charged  with  the  care  of  two, 
three,  or  four  missions,  or  even  more,  often  at  considerable  dis- 
tances from  each  other.  Some  of  these  missions  need  the  gift  of 
tongues  and  a  health  of  iron.  Nine  nations  have  supplied  our 
missionaries,  so  that  there  is  more  diversity  among  them  than 
among  the  faithful  even,  as  regards  language.  Four  of  the  priests 
aie  French,  three  Germans,  two  Belgians,  and  twenty-one  Irish. 
Russia,  Livonia,  Portugal,  and  England  have  each  given  one  mis- 
sionary to  Pennsylvania.     As  to  Americans  bom,  we  count  only 


*  Mr.  M.  A.  Frenaye,  born  in  St.  Domingo,  and  educated  in  France,  re- 
turned to  his  native  islo  with  General  Le  Clerc's  expedition,  and  he  endejiv- 
ored  to  remain  after  the  departure  of  that  army.  Seized  by  the  negroes,  he 
escaped  death  almost  miraculously,  and  took  refuge  first  in  Jamaica  and 
next  in  the  United  States.  Having  realized  an  honorable  fortune  in  trade, 
he  bestowed  it  on  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia,  and  for  the  last  twenty  years 
devoted  himself  to  works  of  charity  and  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  May  his 
noble  old  age  be  long  prolonged  for  the  good  of  religion. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


239 


three  now  employed  in  the  diocese,  and  two  at  Emmetsburg. 
The  number  would  increase  if  wo  had  a  suitable  seminary  to  re- 
ceive tJio  young  men  who  desire  to  devote  themselves  to  the  holy 
ministry,  and  this  is  the  object  of  my  most  sincere  desire. 

"  At  Conewago,  in  the  part  of  Pennsylvania  which  borders  on 
Maryland,  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  have  one  establish- 
ment amid  a  considerable  Catholic  population.  The  zeal  of  these 
Fathera  extends  to  the  neighboring  population,  and  they  have 
three  churches  besides  that  where  they  reside,  and  which  was 
built  in  178*7.  Nearly  twelve  hundred  were  confinned  in  these 
three  churches  at  my  last  visit. 

"  The  church  of  Goshenhoppen  also  belongs  to  the  Jesuits,  and 
must  have  been  built  in  1*765.  The  Catholic  population  of  the 
neighborhood  is  very  numerous,  and  almost  all  of  German  origin; 
hence  the  present  generation,  although  American  born,  does  not 
generally  speak  English.  The  spirit  of  faith  and  piety  has  been 
preserved  and  maintained  till  now  by  the  zeal  of  Father  Corvin 
(Krokowski),  a  Livonian  Jesuit."*  Such  was  the  state  of  religio.i 
in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia  in  1834,  and  we  mo  now  to  see 
what  progrc^  ae  Church,  in  spite  of  all  its  trials,  has  made  in 
the  last  twnry  years. 


*  Father  Boniface  Corvin  was  present  at  the  synod  in  Philadelphia  in 
1832,  sind  is  described  by  tha  Rev.  Mr.  Ilaydeu  as  being  then  a  venerable 
old  man,  and  second  on  the  list  of  priests  that  signed— the  Rev.  Patrick 
Kenny  being  the  first  •' juxta  ordinationis  suae  tempus."  He  died  the  lltli 
of  October,  188t,  aged  sixty  years. 


■-.■.«■  "/T.'i'.'^y^^'i'^l'   ■  -■ 


240 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

-,  DIOCESE    OF   PHILADELPHIA — (1888-1844). 

Commencement  and  progress  of  the  anti-GathoIio  agitation— Yarions  manoenvres  of  the 
fanatics— The  Native  party— The  Philadelphia  riots. 

Bishop  Kenrick's  episcopate  was  not  distinguished  only  by 
the  admirable  development  given  in  his  diocese  in  Catholic  insti- 
tutions, by  the  construction  of  numerous  churches,  and  the  re- 
markable increase  of  the  clergy;  the  celebrated  prelate  had 
also  to  exercise  his  zeal  in  rebuilding  the  shrines  which  a  misled 
people  laid  in  ashes,  and  in  preaching  patience  and  religion  to  his 
flock,  while  he  endeavored  to  protect  them  against  the  fanaticism 
of  the  vile  multitude. 

The  anti-Catholic  agitation  breaks  out  periodically  in  the 
United  States,  and  the  symptoms  of  the  malady  are  the  same 
from  the  colonial  times  down  to  our  own.  It  is  a  sort  of  inter- 
mittent fever,  which  has  its  deep-seated  principle  in  the  hereditary 
hatred  transmitted  for  three  centuries  to  Protestant  generations, 
and  inoculated  by  the  incendiary  writings  of  the  first  deformers. 
At  certain  intervals,  political  quackery  succeeds  in  temporarily 
breaking  the  fever,  andrthe  good  disposition  given  by  Providence 
to  nations  helps  these  intervals  of  passing  calm.  Man  cannot  be 
kept  in  a  state  of  constant  fury  against  his  fellow-man,  especially 
when  the  latter  is  inoffensive  and  innocent,  and  when  the  passions 
are  no  longer  excited  by  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  natural  be- 
nevolence resumes  its  course.  There  are  moments  when  apostles 
of  error  stop  from  weariness,  and  others,  when  political  reasons 
make  it  prudent  to  wheedle  Catholics  by  presenting  toleration  as 


BteniwuiHiiinuii  tminufci,, 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


241 


avres  of  the 

only  by 
olic  insti- 
d  the  re- 
jlate  had 

a  misled 
^on  to  his 
'anaticism 


y 


in  the 
he  same 
of  inter- 
lereditary 
Derations, 
leformers. 
mporarily 
rovidence 
cannot  be 
especially 
e  passions 
latural  be- 
m  apostles 
al  reasons 
ieration  as 


a  real  reality  and  not  a  sham.  And  lastly,  God  wishes  to  give 
his  Church  some  days  of  repose  amid  the  trials  of  the  crucible,  in 
which  the  faithful  are  purified. 

The  ministers  of  the  popular  sects  of  Protestantism — the  Pres- 
byterians, Methodists,  and  Baptists — cannot  bear  to  see  their 
flocks  ravaged  by  infidelity.  Interest  and  self-love  induce  them 
to  make  every  effort  to  retain  around  their  pulpits  the  thousands 
in  whom  unbridled  examination  and  unguided  judgment  has  de- 
stroyed faith,  and  as  the  exposition  of  doctrine  has  no  longer  any 
attraction  for  their  heresy,  they  hope  to  keep  them  Protestants 
by  filling  them  with  a  hatred  of  Catholicity.  The  false  pastors 
then  put  their  imagination  on  the  rack  to  vary  their  calumnies 
against  our  dogmas,  and  season  them  to  the  public  taste.  The 
public  mind  must  be  always  kept  in  suspense  by  dangling  in  its 
eyes  the  bugbear  of  Homanism^  ready  to  glut  itself  with  the  blood 
of  honest  Protestants.  When  a  fact  cannot  be  travestied  or  suo- 
cessfully  misrepresented,  they  invent  without  the  slightest  scruple 
or  fear  of  public  exposure,  a  fact  which  in  itself  is  a  strange  com- 
mentary on  a  public  community.  This  deplorable  system  can 
be  compared  only  to  the  manoeuvres  of  a  Merry  Andrew,  an- 
nouncing that  he  will  exhibit  in  his  tent  a  series  of  prodigies  out- 
doing each  other  in  the  marvellous;  or  else  to  the  course  of 
famous  novelists,  stimulating  the  curiosity  of  their  readers  by 
complications  of  intrigue  and  crime,  on  which  they  then  weave 
the  web  of  mystery. 

The  period  from  1834  to  1844  beheld  this  anti-Catholic  agita- 
tion extend  through  several  dioceses,  in  a  most  frightful  manner, 
and  at  last  result  in  Philadelphia  in  civil  war.  The  leaders  began 
by  reviving  the  stale  calumnies  as  to  the  intolerance  of  Catholics, 
and  the  game  opened  in  a  most  curious  way.  The  English  ver- 
sion of  the  New  Testament  used  by  Catholics  was  made  originally 
at  the  English  college  of  Rheims,  and  first  printed  in  1582. 
Although  the  text  has  undergone  various  recensions,  and  thd 

11 


"'>»|i 


,'■- 


2j 


242 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


notes  of  the  Rhemish  theologians  have  long  been  omitted  and  re- 
placed by  those  of  Bishop  Challoner,  the  Testament  still  bears  the 
name  of  the  Rhemish  Testament,  as  tht  whole  sacred  volume 
does  the  title  of  Douay  Bible.  In  this,  the  mere  result  of  habit, 
the  leaders  of  the  anti-Catholic  movement  thought  that  they  had 
discovered  a  great  secret.  Imagining,  in  their  delusion,  that  the 
old  Rhemish  Testament  was  still  circulating  among  the  Catholic 
clergy,  but  carefully  withheld  from  the  laity,  they  resolved  to  re- 
print it,  and  early  in  1834  issued  their  edition  of  the  Rhemish 
Testament,  a  reprint  of  that  of  1582,  with  the  original  notes, 
described  in  the  "  introductory  address"  as  "  replete  with  impiety, 
irreligion,  and  the  mobt  fiery  persecution."  This  address  bears 
the  endorsement  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  Protestant  clergy- 
men, many  of  them  from  Princeton,  New  Brunswick,  and  Yale ; 
and  its  introductory  matter  will  ever  remain  a  monument  of  the 
ignorance  which  then  prevailed  as  to  bibliography  and  ecclesias- 
tical history.  To  give  all  their  blunders  would  be  an  endless 
task ;  but  to  such  as  have  never  seen  the  curious  volume,  it  may 
be  sufficient  to  state  that  in  their  wisdom  they  make  the  college 
of  Rheims  a  Jesuit  house,  when  it  was  the  very  centre  of  the 
English  secular  clergy,  actually  in  warm  controversy  with  the 
Jesuits.  They  say  that  the  Roman  priests  have  denied  the  value 
of  the  Douay  and  Rheims  translation.  They  admit  their  igno- 
rance of  even  the  names  of  the  translators ;  they  condemn  them 
(believe  it,  ye  men  of  classic  learning)  for  not  translating  tunic 
by  coat,  and  sandals  by  shoes !  They  charge  that  expurgated 
editions  only  have  been  allowed  to  appear  since  1816,  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  two  Catholic  editions,  at  least,  were  printed  in 
this  country  before  that  date.  Alas  for  Princeton,  New  Bruns- 
wick, and  Yale !  This  effort  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  minis- 
ters was  a  complete  failure.  They  had  attempted  too  much,  and 
now  turned  with  greater  zest  to  a  subject  more  pleasant  and  less 
knotty — the  old  women's  tales  of  convents,  the  pseudo  horrors 


^^ahfctoiiJ.Jeauii'if'it'-i 


■M 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


243 


«d  and  re- 
l  bears  the 
ed  volume 
it  of  habit, 
,t  they  had 
n,  that  the 
le  Cathohc 
Ived  to  re- 
e  Rhemish 
;inal  notes, 
th  impiety, 
dress  bears 
ant  clergy- 
and  Yale ; 
nent  of  the 
id  ecclesias- 
an  endless 
me,  it  may 
the  college 
itro  of  the 
with  the 
the  value 
their  igno- 
leran  them 
iting  tunic 
expurgated 
6,  ignorant 
printed  in 
ew  Bruns- 
lirty  minis- 
much,  and 
nt  and  less 
do  horrors 


committed  there,  the  ideal  tortures  to  which  the  nuns  are  sub- 
jected when  they  endeavor  to  escape.  For  several  months  minis- 
ters yelled  from  their  pulpits  these  pretended  descriptions  of  the 
licentiousness  of  Catholic  institutions.  New  England  was  the 
propitious  soif,  and  on  the  11th  of  August,  1834,  the  popular 
emotion  reached  a  proper  height.  The  mob  of  Boston  and  its 
suburbs  rushed  upon  the  Ursuline  Convent  of  Mount  Benedict, 
and  destroyed  it  from  top  to  bottom  by  fire  and  pillage,  ransack- 
ing even  the  graves  of  the  dead.  The  court  of  pretended  justice 
might  acquit  the  rioters ;  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  might 
refuse  to  allow  any  indemnity  for  the  destruction  it  had  permit- 
ted ;  but  a  committee  of  inquiry,  formed  by  Protestant  citizens, 
undertook  a  minute  investigation  to  appreciate  the  truth  of  the 
ccusations  against  the  Ursulines.  Their  report  entirely  excul- 
pated the  persecuted  nuns,  and  showed  the  makers  of  discord  that 
they  must  seek  new  arms  against  Catholicity. 

They  sought  then  to  justify  their  course,  and  an  anonymous 
committee  published  "  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  a  narrative  of 
pretended  enormities ;  the  Lady  Superior  answered  it  trii  n- 
phantly,  and  the  wits  of  Boston  in  travesties  held  up  the  reve- 
rend forger>j  to  the  public  ridicule.  They  attempted  indeed  in 
a  supplemei.\t  to  regain  the  lost  ground,  but  it  was  too  late.* 

Soon  after  these  sad  scenes,  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  who  had 
urged  the  people  of  Boston  to  incendiarism  and  pillage,f  visited 


*  See  "Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  by  Kebecca  Theresa  Eeed.  Boston, 
1885.  It  was  published  to  operate  on  the  public  mind  at  the  time  of  the  trial 
of  the  rioters,  in  order  to  prejudice  the  public  against  the  nuns,  and  35,000 
copies  were  sold  in  a  few  days. 

The  Superior's  answer  is  entitled  "  An  Answer  to  Six  Months  in  a  Con- 
vent," by  the  Lady  Superior.    Boston,  1855. 

See  also  "  Chronicles  of  Mount  Benedict,"  and  *'  Six  Months  in  a  House 
of  Correction."  Boston,  Mussey,  1835.  An  admirable  satire ;  and  finally 
*'  Supplement  to  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  by  the  Committee  of  Publica- 
tion.   Boston,  Russell,  1835. 

t  In  proof  of  this  see  *'  Protestant  Jesuitism." 


244 


TE^  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


the  Western  States,  and  there  published  a  work  in  which  he 
represents  the  Catholics  as  leagued  with  the  despots  of  Europe  to 
deptroy  the  liberties  of  America.  Morse,  whose  name  will  be 
ev'  I  associated  with  the  telegraph,  espoused  the  same  idea  with 
all  the  fury  of  a  partisan,  and  in  his  "  Brutus,  or  a  Foreign  Con- 
spiracy against  the  Liberties  of  the  United  States,"  sought  to 
excite  a  civil  war.*  But  even  this  failed  to  excite  the  people. 
Something  new  was  needed  to  increase  the  religious  irritation. 
Then  three  ministers,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Bourne,  W.  C.  Brownlee, 
and  J.  T.  Slocum,  took  under  their  protection  a  prostitute  of 
Montreal,  whom  they  transformed  into  a  nun  escaped  from  the 
Hotel  Dieu,  or  Hospital  in  that  city.  The  distinguished  publish- 
ing house  of  Harper  agreed  to  issue  their  inventions,  and  an 
infamous  book  entitled  "Awfal  Disclosures  of  Maria  Monk" 
appeared,  ostensibly  published  by  Howe  &  Bates,  and  contain- 
ing the  pretended  revelations  of  Maria.  In  this  work,  written 
it  would  seem  by  a  Mr.  Timothy  Dwight,  the  nuns  of  the  Hotel 
Dieu  are  accnsed  of  the  most  revolting  crimes,  such  as  stifling 
ciiildren  between  mattresses,  and  putting  to  death  novices  who 
refused  to  partake  in  their  debauchery  with  the  priests  of  the 
seminary  of  Montreal.  In  vain  the  whole  press  of  Canada, 
Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic,  unmasked  the  imposture  in  all  its 
details.  The  whole  life  of  the  heroine  was  traced  from  her 
cradle  to  her  illicit  connection  with  a  Rev.  Mr.  Hoyte,  and  her 
departure  with  him  from  Montreal.  It  was  proved  that  she 
never  was  in  the  Hotel  Dieu,  eitl.  as  a  nun  or  even  as  a  ser- 
vant ;  on  the  contrary,  that  she  had  been  sent  away  from  a 
Magdaltoe  asylum,  and  that  the  descriptions  in  the  book,  totally 
at  variance  with  the  Hotel  Dieu,  correspond  with  the  Magda- 
lene Asylum ;  that  the  names  of  the  pretended  nuns  are  really 

*  Plea  for  the  West,  by  Lyman  Bcecher.  Cincinnati.  Brutus,  or  a 
Foreign  Conspiracy  against  the  Liberties  of  the  Dnitod  States  :  by  C.  F.  B. 
Morse.    Naw  York,  Leavitt,  1886. 


'^■iinulii  in.iU  nimiiiwii— »«<i»>ir 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


245 


those  of  her  fellow-penitents  within  the  asylum.*  In  spite  of 
all  this  refutation,  the  ministers  and  Protestant  Association  of 
New  York  extended  protection  and  influence  to  the  vile  instru- 
ment of  their  religious  hate.  One  alone  protested :  Colonel 
Wm.  L.  Stone,  Editor  of  the  Commr/cial  Advertiser^  at  New 
York,  went  with  some  other  gentlemen  to  Montreal  after 
inviting  Maria  Monk  and  her  friends  to  join  them.  There,  book 
in  hand,  they  examined  the  Hotel  Dieu,  and  were  so  completely 
satisfied  that  Maria  Monk  had  never  been  there,  that  on  his 
return  Col.  Stone  published  a  withering  exposure  of  the  gigantic 
fraud.f  Still  the  concoctors  of  the  work  held  out,  confident  in 
the  unreasoning  bigotry  of  the  masses  ;  two  editions  of  the  vile 
volume,  each  of  40,000  copies,  were  rapidly  sold,  and  a  second 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Maria  Monk,  more  infamous  and 
mendacious  still  than  the  first  fable  of  the  courtesan.J 

So  profitable  was  the  mart  of  Protestant  credulity  that  new 
irupostors  came  to  compete  with  Brownlee,  Slocum,  Monk,  and 
Harper,  now  engaged  in  a  fierce  lawsuit,  in  which  all  swore  to 
the  authorship  and  ownership  of  the  book.  Frances  Partridge 
appeared  also  as  a  runaway  nun  from  the  convent,  and  th(}  ren- 
egade priest,  Samuel  B.  Smith,  published,  under  the  name  of 
Rosamond  Cliflbrd,  an  obscene  romance  pretending  to  unveil  the 
turpitudes  of  the  confessional.§ 


*  See  "  Awful  Expcaure  of  the  atrocious  plot  formed  by  certain  individ- 
uals against  the  Clergy  and  Nuns  of  Lower  Canada,  through  the  intervention 
of  Maria  Monk."  New  York.  Printed  for  Jones  &  Co.,  of  Montreal,  1886, 
p.  71. 

t  See  Maria  Monk  and  the  Nunnery  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  being  an  account 
of  a  visit  to  the  convents  of  Montreal,  and  refutation  of  tiie  "  awful  disdo- 
sures,"  by  Wm.  L.  Ston'e.    New  York,  Howe  <fe  Bates,  1886, 48, 49. 

X  Farther  Disclosures  by  Maria  Monk,  concerning  the  Hotel  Dieu  Nun- 
nery of  Montreal.  Also  her  visits  to  the  Nun's  Island,  and  disclosures  con- 
cerning the  secret  retreat.    New  York,  published  for  Maria  Monk,  1887. 

I  For  another  attempt  of  Maria  Monk,  and  its  exposure,  see  "  An  expo- 
sure of  "Maria  Monk's  pretended  abduction  and  conveyance  to  the  Catholie- 
Asylum,  Piiiladelphia,  by  six  priests,  on  the  night  of  August  15th,  1887." 


■i^Tr^\'>----'mij-f 


246 


t  \ 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


"It  would  seem,  indeed,"  says  Colonel  ^tone,  ''as  though 
these  people  had  yielded  themselves  to  this  speci'js  of  mono- 
mania, and  from  mere  habit  they  yield  a  willing  credence  to 
any  story  against  the  Roman  Catholics,  no  matter  what  or  by 
whom  related,  so  that  it  be  suflSciently  horrible  and  revolting  in 
its  detail  of  licentiousness  and  blood.  It  is  melancholy  to  con- 
template such  credulity,  and  such  deplorable  fanaticism,  and  yet 
the  instances  are  multiplied  wherein  such  delusion  has  been 
wrought  by  the  passionate  appeals  of  the  anti-Papist  presses. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  denied  that  such  publications  as  are  now  deluging 
the  country,  fomenting  the  popular  prejudices  and  appealing  to 
the  basest  passions  of  our  nature — teeming  as  they  do  with  loath- 
some and  disgusting  details  of  criminal  voluptuousness,  under 
the  garb  of  religion,  are  ominous  of  fearful  results,  especially 
from  their  influence  upon  the  rising  generation  of  both  sexes." 

"  The  people  of  this  land,"  says  the  author  of  Protestant 
Jesuitism,  "and  it  is  a  common  attribute  of  human  nature — 
love  excitement,  and  unfortunately  there  are  those  who  know 
how  to  produce  it,  and  profit  by  it.  When  the  bulletin,  an- 
nouncing the  papal  invasion  of  our  shores  and  territon'^,  has 
spent  its  influence,  because  the  enemy  cannot  be  seen,  in  comes 
Miss  Reed's  '  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,'  and  the  TJrsuline  School 
is  in  flames !     When  this  is  well  digested — which,  it  must  be 

By  W.  H.  Sleigh,  Philadelphia,  1887.  To  form  some  idea  of  the  literature 
of  that  day,  we  give  the  titles  of  some  other  fanatical  publications  of  the 
period.  Not  a  month  passed  without  h*  holding  a  n  w  pamphlet,  surpassing 
its  predecessors  in  its  vile  calumnies  of  Catholic  institutions  : 

**  Louise,  or  the  Canadian  Jfun." 

"Life  of  Scipio  Ricci,  the  Jansenist  Bishop  of  Pistoia,"  another  scanda- 
lous picture  of  convent  life. 

"  Synopsis  of  Popery,"  by  S.  B.  Smith.  New  York,  1836.  The  author 
still  lives.    God  grant  him  grace  to  repent. 

"  Open  Convents,"  by  Timothy  Dwight,  the  author  of  the  volume  bearing 
the  name  of  Maria  Monk. 

"Popery  as  it  was  and  is,"  by  William  Hogan. 

"Papal  Rome  aa  it  is,"  by  Rev.  L.  Giustiniani. 


MiJffallMllRteMiUHM 


attfa.rta»>WiMWi*"«*''i 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


247 


"as  though 
U3S  of  mono- 
credence  to 
'  what  or  by 
I  revolting  in 
eholy  to  con- 
jism,  and  yet 
3n  has  been 
ipist  presses, 
low  deluging 
appealing  to 
0  with  loath- 
Lsness,  under 
ts,  especially 
oth  sexes." 
f  Protestant 
m  nature — 
who  know 
bulletin,  an- 
rriton'-,  has 
n,  in  comes 
iline  School 
it  must  be 

the  literature 
iitioDS  of  the 
3t,  surpassing 

)ther  scanda- 

The  author 

ume  bearing 


confessed  had  in  it  some  substantial  nutriment,  though  a  good 
deal  of  '  ardent  spirit,'  producing  no  small  measure  of  intoxica- 
tion— then  comes  Maria  Monk,  one  of  the  most  arrant  fictions 
that  was  ever  palmed  upon  the  community.  But  the  appetite  is 
good,  and  it  is  all  swallowed.  Close  upon  the  heels  of  this 
comes  'Rosamond's  Narrative,'  supported  and  commended  by 
the  veritable  certificates  of  reverend  divines — illustrated  with 
plates — all  for  the  instruction  and  benefit  of  our  children  and 
youth  of  both  sexes — to  be  found  all  over  the  land  on  the  same 
table  with  the  Bible!"* 

Under  the  sway  of  the  agitation  fomented  by  these  incendiary 
or  immoral  publications,  Protestant  Associations  were  formed  in 
all  the  cities  of  the  Union,  with  the  avowed  object  of  protecting 
the  liberties  of  the  country  against  the  plots  of  the  Pope !  That 
in  Philadelphia  contained  eighteen  ministers;  and  the  first 
pledge  into  which  the  conspirators  entered,  was  never  to  employ 
Catholic  workmen  or  servants,  and  never  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  Catholic  orphans.  It  "was  a  conspiracy  against 
poverty  and  misfortune.  The  pulpits  of  error  renewed  their 
fanatical  appeals,  and  as  t'  E-ev.  Mr.  Goodman,  a  worthy  Epis- 
copal clergyman,  says,  in  his  just  indignation :  "  Congregations 
instead  of  being  taught  from  the  pulpit  to  adorn  their  profession 
by  all  the  lovely  graces  of  the  Gospel,  by  kind  and  affectionate 
bearing  in  the  world,  by  earnest  and  ever  active  endeavors  to 
secure  for  themselves  and  others,  the  blessings  of  peace,  were 
annoyed  with  inflammatory  harangues  upon  the  '  great  apostasy,' 
and  upon  abominations  of  the  Roman  Church."  "  The  Pope, 
and  the  Pope,  and  the  Pope !"  was  the  beginning  and  the  end 
of  the  sermons  in  certain  churches,  and  the  women  and  children 
were  frightened  with  the  details  of  the  wicked  doings  of  "  him 
of  Rome ;"  whilst  they  of  the  stature  of  men,  were  held  breath- 


*  "  Protestant  Jesuitism,"  by  a  Protestant.    New  York,  Harpers,  1888,  p.  84. 


248 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


less  "-aptives  when  they  were  addressed  by  these  orators  upon 
the  subject  of  Papal  usurpations,  and  the  ecclesiastical  domina- 
tion conte'-^plated  by  "  Anti-Christ "  in  America.  They  were 
told  that  there  was  not  a  Catholic  church,  that  had  not  under- 
neath it  prepared  cells  for  Protestant  heretics ;  that  every  priest 
was  a  Jesuit  in  disguise ;  that  the  Pope  was  coming  to  this 
country  with  an  army  of  cassocked  followers,  and  that  each 
would  be  fully  armed  with  weapons,  concealed  under  the  folds 
of  his  "  Babylonish  robes."  Never  did  Titus  Gates  detail  more 
horrid  conspiracies,  in  virtue  of  his  station  as  informer-general, 
than  did  these  clerical  sentinels ;  and  all  that  was  wanting  was 
the  power,  and  such  a  judge  as  JeflFries,  to  make  every  Catholic 
expiate  his  "  abominable  heresy  "  upon  the  scaflfold  or  amid  the 
flames.* 

But  the  ordinary  preaching  of  the  ministers  always  bearing  on 
the  same  subject,  wearied  their  hearers,  without  heating  them  to 
the  degree  of  hatred  to  which  they  wished  to  bring  them.  They 
then  sought  to  disco  'er  some  apostate  from  Catholicity  whose 
revelations  would  be  racy  enough  to  stimulate  curiosity.  Then, 
if  a  wretched  priest  had  been  weak  enough  to  yield  to  his  pas- 
sions, be  silenced  by  his  bishop,  the  unfortunate  man  was  sur- 
rounded at  once  by  all  the  allurements  of  heresy.  A  pension 
was  oflFered,  a  wife  was  proposed,  ease  and  rank  assured  him, 
provided  he  came  forward  as  a  Protestant — provided  especially 
that  he  consented  to  go  from  town  to  town  like  some  strange 
"  beast,"  and  lecture  on  the  mysteries  of  the  Confessional.  But 
as  the  United  States  do  not  produce  apostates  enough  for  the 
supply,  as  these  vile  instruments  are  soon  useless  in  the  hands  of 

*  The  Truth  Unveiled.  Baltimore,  1844,  p.  18.  The  author,  the  Rev.  M. 
Goodman,  published  about  the  same  time  the  "  Olive  Branch,"  a  warm  ap- 
peal to  concord,  to  which  the  fanatics  turned  a  deaf  ear.  These  remarkable 
tracts  were  cited  by  Bishop  Spalding  in  an  able  article  in  the  U.  S.  Catholic 
Magazine,  1845,  p.  1-16,  and  published  in  his  Miscellany.  An  article  which 
has  served  greatly  in  the  composition  of  this  chapter. 


,  .■F'  "c-rr'"-^'^^  '^Ti"rw^fv*r"'';  'fv  rf'*ri 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


249 


their  employers,  they  send  to  Europe  to  get  an  outcast  of  the 
sanctuary;  false  certificates  of  ordination  are  got  up  for  men  who 
never  approached  an  altar,  but  who  wish  to  act  the  part  of  vic- 
tims of  the  Inquisition ;  these  are  taught  to  relate  a  thousand 
turpitudes  as  to  their  pretended  career,  lil'-e  the  bird  in  Scripture 
that  defiled  the  nest  in  which  it  iiad  been  hatched.  A  book 
appears  in  his  name  (it  is  always  the  same,  under  a  different 
name)  against  the  Inquisition,  Confession,  Clerical  Celibacy,  the 
Papacy,  the  cultus  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  Saints ;  then 
they  drop  into  oblivion  these  heroes  of  a  day,  who  are  useless 
when  they  ca-i  no  longer  give  scandal.  They  are  poisonous 
fruits,  out  f  r  which  the  venom  has  been  pressed,  and  the  insipid 
pulp  of  which  is  fit  only  to  be  oast  into  the  fire  of  earth  and 
heaven. 

Thus  successively  appeared  in  the  United  States  the  Hogans, 
Smiths,  Giustiniani,  Teodors,  and  Leahys.  The  last  took  the 
part  of  an  ex-Trappist ;  and  as  he  became  more  celebrated  than 
the  others,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give  some  outline  of  his  life. 
Leahy  never  was  a  monk  of  La  Trappe,  nor  of  any  other  order. 
He  began  life  as  a  farmer's  boy  at  Templemore,  in  Ireland  ;  he 
then  entered  as  a  servant  into  the  employment  of  the  Trappists 
of  Mount  Melleray ;  but  remained  only  a  few  months  there. 
Returning  to  Templemore,  he  succeeded  in  getting  a  sum  of 
money  from  the  parish  priest,  by  pretending  that  he  had  been 
sent  by  the  Trappists,  who  were  totally  out  of  food.  With  this 
money  he  made  his  way  to  the  United  States,  where  he  married 
a  good  girl,  who  soon  had  to  leave  him,  as  she  found  he  was  en- 
deavoring to  sell  her  virtue.  He  then  went  to  Marshall  College, 
representing  himself  as  a  convert  to  Protestantism ;  but  the 
honorable  directors  of  that  institution  were  not  duped  by  his  hy- 
pocrisy— they  refused  him  all  assistance.  Other  ministers  were 
not  so  delicate  in  the  choice  of  their  instruments ;  and  thus 
Leahy  was  enabled  tor  a  period  of  ten  years  to  play  the  part  of 

11* 


i 


250 


THE  OaTHOLIC  CHURCH 


an  ex-monk,  and  have  churches  and  pulpits  opened  to  him,  to 
thunder  against  Catholicity  and  the  morals  of  the  clergy.  Dur- 
ing this  shameful  peregrination,  Leahy  married  and  repudiated 
four  wives,  one  of  whom  was  crippled  for  hfe  by  the  blows  she 
received  from  him  in  a  fit  of  jealous  frenzy.  We  need  not  men- 
tion the  other  victims  of  his  passions,  who  we'  j  not  even  solaced 
by  any  pretence  of  marriage ;  the  list  would  be  too  long.  Ja 
spite  of  his  disorders,  Leahy  held  on  his  scandalous  sermons,  and 
the  apostate's  arrival  in  a  town  was  always  followed  by  scenes  of 
violence  between  the  impostor's  defenders  and  the  L'ish,  who  en- 
deavored to  silence  the  vile  calumniator  of  their  daughters  and 
sisters,  whom  he  represented  as  victims  in  the  confessional.  The 
bishops  prevented  greater  evils,  only  by  preaching  patience  and 
resignation,  and  going  among  their  flocks  to  calm  their  minds  and 
hearts.  At  last,  Leahy's  public  life  terminated  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  its  outset.  On  the  20th  of  August,  1852,  he  appeared  in  a 
Wisconsin  court  to  accuse  his  friend  Manly  of  seducing  his  wife. 
Manly  was  acquitted,  and  Leahy,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  court, 
shot  his  rival  dead,  and  with  a  second  shot  wounded  a  lawyer, 
who  rushed  forward  to  stop  him.* 

Even  these  courses  of  disorder  did  not  satisfy  the  fanatics,  and 
the  arsenal  of  falsehood  soon  furnished  them  new  arms  against 
the  Catholics.  The  latter  were  now  accused  of  wishing  to  ex- 
clude  the   Bible  from  the   public   schools,  and  the  thousand- 


*  As  capital  punishment  is  abolished  in  Wisconsin,  Leahy  was  condemned 
to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  he  is  now  expiating  his  crime  in  the  State 
Prison  at  Fond  du  Lac.  The  solitude  of  his  cell  seems  to  have  inspired  this 
guilty  man  with  salutary  reflections,  and  for  eighteen  months  Leahy  im- 
plored to  be  received  into  the  Church.  Bishop  Henni  subjected  him  to  a 
long  probation,  and  at  last  the  Bev.  Louis  Dael  was  authorized  to  receive 
once  more  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church  the  guilty  but  now  repentant  man. 
The  ceremony  took  place  on  the  20th  of  January,  1856.  The  way  of  the 
transgressor  is  hard ;  and  Leahy,  in  his  disgrace,  finds  how  hollow  is  the 
friendship  which  hurried  him  to  crime,  and  how  great  is  the  love  of  that 
Church  which  he  had  wronged. 


Uf  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


201 


tongned  press  propagated  and  commented  on  the  charge.  The 
Native  American  purty  was  formed  to  defend  the  Bible  attacked 
by  "  foreign  papists."  Monster  meetings  are  called,  and  roased 
to  fury  by  incendiary  appeals.  The  Bible  is  solemnly  borne  in 
political  processions,  and  thousands  of  braving  arms  are  raised  to 
swear  to  protect  the  Holy  Book  against  the  pretended  attacks  of 
the  Iiish.  At  the  head  of  these  manifestations  in  Philadelphia  was 
a  ci-devant  Jew,  Levin,  who  at  a  late  date  is  conspicuous  among  the 
Know-Nothings  of  1855.  The  accusation  was  false,  like  all  the 
other  calumnies  of  the  enemies  of  God's  Church,  and  the  Con- 
trollers of  the  Public  Schools  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  twenty- 
sixth  Annual  Report,  declare  officially :  "  No  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  by  any  one  in  this  Board,  nor  have  the  Controllers 
ever  been  asked  by  any  sect,  person,  or  persons,  to  exclude  the 
Bible  from  the  Public  Schools." 

The  fact  was,  that  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia,  who,  hke  their 
Protestant  fellow-citizens,  paid  taxes  to  support  the  Public  Schools, 
wished  fo  enjoy  liberty  of  conscience  in  the  education  of  their 
children.  They  did  not  ask  to  exclude  the  Bible,  but  they  wished 
it  to  be  lawful  for  Catholic  children  to  read  the  Catholic  version 
of  the  Scriptures ;  and  this  just  request  had  been  favorably  re- 
ceived by  the  controllers  of  the  schools,  when  the  animosity  of 
the  Natives  found  it  their  game  to  misrepresent  the  question^  and 
make  it  a  war-cry  against  th(  Catholics.  In  order  to  provoke  the 
Irish,  all  the  N  ative  meetings  were  called  in  parts  more  especially 
inhabited  by  Catholics,  and  the  latter  were  thus  forced  to  listen 
to  all  the  abuse  vomited  forth  in  public  on  all  that  they  held  sa- 
cred and  venerable.  On  the  3d  of  May,  1844,  an  anti-Catholic 
meeting  at  Philadelphia  was  disturbed  by  the  indignant  cries  of 
the  Irish,  but  the  disorder  went  no  further  than  it  does  every  day 
in  popular  assemblies.  Yet  no  better  pretext  was  needed  to  ac- 
celerate the  explosion,  and  the  pretext  was  found.  On  the  6th, 
armed  crowds  hasten  to  the  Irish  quarter,  and  the  battle  began. 


'  \ 


k 


I 


252 


TBB  CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  an  address  of  Bishop  Kenrick  was 
posted  up  throughout  the  city,  exhorting  the  Catholics  "  to  fol- 
low peace,  and  have  charity."  These^  were  immediately  torn 
down  by  the  Natives,  whom  the  morning  papers  called  to  arms : 
"  The  bloody  hand  of  the  Pope  is  upon  us,"  Raid  these  sheets ; 
"  the  modern  St.  Bartholomew  has  begun  ;  the  Irish  papists  hav9 
risen  to  massacre  us."  While  fire  and  murder  desolate  the  Ken- 
sington suburb,  a  meeting  was  held  in  another  part  of  the  city 
with  a  Protestant  minister  in  the  chair.  Resolutions  were  passed 
approving  the  steps  of  the  Natives,  and  they  adjourned  by  accla- 
mation to  the  scene  of  the  riot,  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  assail- 
ants. Many  houses  occupied  by  Irish  families  were  in  ashes ; 
women  and  children  fled  to  the  country,  without  clothing  or 
food ;  others  are  burned  alive  in  their  burning  homes,  or  fall 
dead,  pierced  by  a  volley  as  they  attempted  to  escape.  Terror 
reigned  throughout  the  city,  and  the  inhabitants,  in  self-defence, 
wrote  on  their  doors,  "  No  popery  here,"  or  coarse  insults  to  the 
Catholics. 

On  the  8th,  the  rioters  still  ruled  the  city,  and  at  two  o'clock 
p.  M.  St.  Michael's  Church  was  in  flames.  The  champions  of  re- 
ligious liberty  applauded  during  the  conflagration,  and  one  paper 
says :  "  When  the  cross  which  surmounted  the  church  fell  into 
the  flames,  the  crowd  hurraed  in  triumph,  and  the  fife  and  drum 
struck  up  Orange  airs."  At  four  o'clock  the  incendiary  torch 
was  applied  to  the  house  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  which  was  soon  consumed.  This  Order  had  been  insti- 
tuted by  the  zeal  of  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Donoghoe,  at  the  very  time 
of  the  cholera,  and  their  devotedness  in  nursing  the  victims  of  the 
epidemic  was  so  great,  that  the  municipal  body  publicly  testified 
their  city's  gratitude,  offering  them  any  recompense  they  desired. 
The  Sisters  of  Charity  refused  these  propositions,  and  soon  found 
their  reward  in  the  ingratitude  of  their  fellow-citizens.  At  six 
♦i'<;lo<'k  in  the  evening,  St.  Augustine's  Church  was  fired  in  its 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


258 


turn,  together  with  the  rectory.  The  precious  library  of  the 
HermitB  of  St.  Augustine  was  plundered,  and  the  books  piled  up 
and  burnt.  During  the  cholera,  the  parsonage  had  been  trans- 
formed into  (i  hospital  for  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Goodman,  in  the  pamphlet  already  cited,  says : 

"  With  confusion  of  face,  yet  with  impartial  justice  before 
men  and  angels,  the  writer  will  state  that  in  the  season  of  that 
terrible  scourge,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hurley,  priest  of  St.  Augustine's, 
converted  the  Rectory,  then  in  his  o'  '^upancy,  into  a  Cholera 
Hospital,  and  placed  it  under  the  control  of  the  proper  authori- 
ties. The  doors  of  his  quiet  home  wero  throwu  wide  open ; 
and  unmindful  of  the  inconvenience  to  which  such  an  -t  sub- 
jected him,  he  not  only  invited  the  guardians  of  li  o  city's 
health  to  deposit  the  vl  tims  of  the  pestilence  '  >  his  house,  bi;r 
himself  was  employed  without  intermission  )\  seking  out  the 
wretched  creatures  upon  whom  the  dreadful  disease  had  fallen  1 
Every  room  in  his  mansion  was  appropriated  to  this  divine 
work ;  his  own  chamber  was  given  to  the  dying,  and  that  study, 
where  he  had  learned  his  Master's  will,  was  made  the  practical 
commentary  of  the  judgment  he  had  formed  of  it.  Out  of 
three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  patients,  which  had  been  received 
in  this  private  Asylum  of  a  heavenly  charity,  forty-eight  only 
were  Catholics — the  remainder  were  professing  Protestants." 
"Go  to  that  Rectory;  mark  that  ii  «,,  in  ruins; — that  the  very 
hospital  has  been  burnt  by  miscreants,  who  dared  to  profane  the 
name  of  Protestantism  when  tb-jy  applied  the  torch  to  the  home 
of  Catholic  priests."* 

On  the  blackened  walls  of  St.  Augustine's  Church  there 
remained  only  the  inscription,  "  The  Lord  Seeth." 

At  last,  on  the  9th  of  May,  martial  law  was  proclaimed  in 
Philadelphia;  the  military  commander  ordered  the  rioters  to 


*  The  Truth  Unveiled  by  a  Protestant  and  Native  Philadelphian. 
more,  1844,  p.  21. 


Balti- 


• -p-s^n-JW^-a 


254 


THE  CATHOLIC  OHUBCH 


I 


disperse  in  five  minutes,  and  order  was  restored  as  soon  as  the 
brigands  saw  that  the  authorities  were  resolved  to  put  a  stop  to 
their  fury.    The  leafel  display  of  energy  would  have  produced 
the  same  result  three  days  betore ;  but  the  disorder  must  reach 
its  height  before  authorities  will  come  forward  to  protect  the 
Catholic.    On  the  6th  of  May  the  militia  had  refused  to  take  up 
arras  unless  paid  in  advance.     They  obeyed  the  call  on  the  7th, 
but  the  rioters  defied  the  troops  to  use  their  arms,  and  at  the 
command  "  Fire,"  the  soldiers  replied,  "  How  can  we  fire  on  our 
brethren !"     St.  Micliael's  Church  was  burnt  before  the  eyes  of 
the  militia  without  their  offering  any  resistance.    In  the  very 
worst  of  the  plunder  and  conflagration,  the  Mayor  and  Sheriff 
had  a  consultation  with  the  Attorney-General,  to  know  whether 
they  had  a  right  to  use  force,  and  what  degree  of  force,  to  put 
down  the  riot!     The  legal  functionary  told  them  that  they 
could  employ  force,  and  just  as  much  as  was  necessary :  "  He 
knows  that  the  power  has  been  sometimes  questioned,  but  he 
thinks  that  on  the  whole  he  would  employ  just  the  degree  of 
force  indispensable."     When  the  disorder  ceased  rather  from 
lassitude  than  from  its  being  repressed,  the  tactics  of  the  author- 
ities were  to  dissemble  its  importance.    They  sought  to  convey 
the  idea  that  it  had  been  the  affair  of  a  few  boys ;  and  the 
Mayer  issued  a  proclamation  calling  on  parents  to  keep  their 
children  at  home.    In  the  investigation  instituted  to  account  for 
these  deplorable  events,  the  Grand  Jury  did  not  fail  to  throw  the 
first  blame  on  the  Catholics,  and  they  saw  the  cause  of  the  riots 
— we  will  quote  their  very  words — in  "  the  efforts  of  a  portion 
of  the  community  to  exclude  the  Bible  from  our  Public  Schools  : 
the  jui'y  are  of  the  opinion  that  these  efforts  in  some  measure 
gave  rise  to  the  formation  of  a  new  party,  which  called  and  held 
public  meetings  in  the  District  of  Kensington,  in  the  peaceful 
exercise  of  the  sacred  rights  and  privileges  guaranteed  to  every 
citizen  bv  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  our  State  and  country. 


PHwra 


IN  THE   UNITED    STATES. 


255 


These  meetings  were  rudely  disturbed  and  fired  upon  by  a  band 
of  lawless,  irresponsible  men,  some  of  whom  had  resided  in  our 
country  only  for  a  short  period.  This  outrage,  causing  the 
death  of  a  number  of  our  unoflFending  citizens,  led  to  immediate 
retaliation,  and  was  followed  up  by  subsequent  acts  oi  aggression 
in  violation  and  open  defiance  of  all  law."* 

At  this  shameful  attempt  to  exonerate  the  Natives  at  their 
expense,  the  Catholics  called  a  me^.ing  and  made  an  address  to 
•  their  fellow-citizens  to  restore  the  facts  in  their  truth.  They 
had  no  difilculty  in  proving  that  the  first  victims  were  Irishmen, 
and  that  the  Catholics  had  never  made  any  attempts  to  exclude 
the  Bible  from  the  public  schools.f  Men  of  good  faith  were 
convinced ;  but  incendiaries  never  found  recruits  in  their  ranks ; 
and  the  want  of  energy  in  repressing  the  violence  soon  evoked 
another  riot  in  another  district  of  Philadelphia.  '. 

On  Friday,  the  5th  of  July,  1844,  the  pastor  of  St.  Philip 
Neri's  Church,  in  the  Southwaik  suburb,  was  warned  that  his 
church  would  be  attacked  the  following  night.  The  Governor 
of  the  State  having  authorized  the  formation  of  additional  com- 
panies of  militia,  one  had  been  formed  in  the  congregation  of 
this  church  and  its  armory  was  in  the  basement.  Meetings  were 
at  oucc  called  to  avenge  this  provocation  of  the  Catholics.  The 
SheriflF  went  to  the  church,  and  seized  the  arms !  but  the  crowd 
was  not  satisfied,  and  insisted  that  a  delegation  of  their  body 
should  examine  the  church  to  see  that  no  arms  are  concealed  there. 
Gratified  on  this  point,  as  they  have  invariably  been  in  attacks 
on  Catholic  churches  in  the  United  States,  the  crowd  instead  of 
dispersing,  became  doubly  bold ;  they  threatened  to  renew  the 
scenes  of  May.    General  Cadwallader  called  out  the  militia  and 


*  Presentment  of  the  Grand  Jury  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  of 
Mfty  Term,  1844. 

+  Address  of  Catholic  lay  citizens  of  the  city  and  county  of  Phila- 
lelphia. 


"i" 


256 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ordered  the  crowd  to  disperse ;  but  the  Honorable  Cha'  ^es  Nay- 
lor,  an  ex-member  of  Congress  ordered  out :  "  Do  not  fire  on 
the  people,"  and  harangued  the  troops  to  induce  them  to  diso- 
bey their  officers.  But  the  orator  was  soon  arrested  and  con- 
fined in  the  basement  of  the  church.  The  rioters  then  brought 
up  two  field-pieces,  and  charging  them  with  blocks  of  wood, 
drove  in  the  church  doors  and  rescued  Naylor.  They  dis- 
armed the  Montgomery  Hibernian  Greens  who  had  been  left 
in  charge  of  the  prisoners ;  they  command  them  to  retire ; 
but  treacherously  attack  them  as  they  withdrew,  and  cut  down 
several. 

General  Cadwallader,  who  here  laid  the  foundations  of  his 
military  fame,  afterwards  so  glorious  in  the  Mexican  War,  now 
came  to  the  relief  of  his  guard,  and  a  brisk  cannonade  began. 
On  Monday,  the  riot  still  continued,  and  the  civil  authorities  of 
Southwark,  unable  to  quell  it,  made  terms.  The  troops  were 
withdrawn,  and  by  dint  of  proclamations,  and  appeals  to  con- 
cord, by  dint  of  lauding  the  intelligence  of  the  masses  and  their 
respect  for  the  law,  the  authorities  tucoeeded  in  calming  the 
effervescence  and  restoring  order  by  disorder. 

Such  were  the  Philadelphia  riots,  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Good- 
man characterizes  in  these  terms :  "  Nativism  has  existed  for  a 
period  hardly  reaching  five  months,  and  in  that  time  of  its 
being,  what  has  been  seen  ?  Two  Catholic  churches  burned, 
one  twice  fired  and  desecrated,  a  Catholic  seminary  and  retreat 
consumed  by  the  torches  of  an  incendiary  mob,  two  rectories 
and  a  most  valuable  library  destroyed,  forty  dwellings  in  ruins, 
about  forty  human  lives  sacrificed,  and  sixty  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens wounded ;  riot,  and  rebellion,  and  treason  rampant  on  two 
occasions  in  our  midst ;  the  laws  boldly  set  at  defiance,  and 
peace  and  order  prostrated  by  ruffian  violence  ! !  These  are  the 
horrid  events  which  have  taken  place  among  us  since  the  organ- 
ization ;  and  they  are  mentioned  for  no  other  purpose,  than  that 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


257 


reflection  be  entered  upon  by  the  community,  whicli  has  been 
so  immeasurably  disgraced  by  these  terrible  acts."* 

Rarely  does  justice  in  the  United  States  overtake  the  guilty 
in  these  popular  eruptions ;  but  public  opinion  finally  sides  with 
the  victims  of  fanaticism ;  and  when  oppression  assumes  too 
iniquitous  a  form,  a  reaction  is  sure  to  show  itself  in  favor  of  the 
weak  and  persecuted.  The  Catholics  experienced  this  change 
in  the  feelings  of  the  Nation ;  and  as  we  have  shown  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter,  they  were  in  1846  more  free  in  the  exercise  or 
their  worship  and  more  respected  in  their  faith,  than  at  any 
previous  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
present  moment  the  period  of  anti-Catholic  agitation  begins 
anew,  and  the  ministers  of  error  have  recourse  to  their  old  tricks 
to  fetter  the  wonderful  progress  of  the  Church.  Gavazzi  plays 
Leahy's  part,  Miss  Bunkley  that  of  Miss  Reed ;  pamphlets  are 
scattered  around  to  denounce  the  pretended  crimes  of  convent 
life.  The  unoffending  visit  of  a  venerable  Nuncio  is  cited  as  a 
living  proof  of  the  Pope's  designs  on  the  liberties  of  America. 
Lamentations  begin  about  the  Bible,  and  the  Protestant  faithful 
are  called  upon  to  defend  the  Sacred  Volume,  still  menaced  by 
the  Papists.  The  riots  and  devastation  at  Louisville  recall  those 
of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Know-Nothings  of  1855  are  a  copy  of  tlie 
Native  Americans  of  1844.  Like  the  latter  they  are  impelled 
by  Free  Masonry,  and  Irish  Orangeism  in  crossing  the  Atlantic 
has  lost  neither  its  nature  nor  its  principles.  There  is  then 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  crimes  already  committed 
against  the  Church,  as  well  as  those  about  to  come,  will  have  no 


*  The  judgment  of  God  on  the  authora  of  sacrilege  are  as  evident  in 
America  as  elsewhere.  Among  the  natives  of  1844,  concerned  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  churches,  was  Col.  Peter  Albright.  He  led  the  mob  at  St. 
Micliael's,  and  exulted  that  the  record  of  his  baptism  was  destroyed  at  St. 
Augustine's,  for  he  was  the  son  of  Catbolio  parents.  Ho  died  soon  after, 
very  wretchedly,  in  an  oyster  cellar  ;  his  brother  Jacob  perished  at  a  Are  ; 
liis  widow  and  daughter  Wore  drowned  in  the  Delaware,  in  1856. 


Hi 


I 


Lid 


258 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


other  result,  than  to  advance  the  reaction  in  favor  of  the  Catho- 
lics in  the  really  sound  portion  of  the  American  mind.  Besides, 
God  protects  the  Church,  and  has  in  store  for  it  after  these  days 
of  trial,  days  of  liberty  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

'  DIOCESE    OF    PHILADELPHIA — (1844-1855).  » 

» 

Division  of  tlie  diocese— State  of  Delaware— The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart— The  Sib- 
tei-8  of  the  Visitation— The  Sisters  of  Notre  Danr ft— Father  Virgil  Barber  and  bis 
flamily— Works  of  Bishop  F.  P.  Kenrick— His  translation  to  the  metropolitan  See  at 
Baltimore — Bt  Rev.  John  N.  Neumann,  fourth  bishop  of  Philadelphia. 

After  the  conflagration  of  St.  Augustine's  Church,  the  congre- 
gation of  that  church  were  hospitably  received  by  old  St.  Joseph's, 
where  they  had  Mass  and  Vespers  at  special  hours,  so  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  usual  services  of  that  parish.  In  1845  the 
Hermits  of  St.  Augustine  built  a  schoolhouse  on  the  site  of  their 
old  rectory,  and  used  it  as  a  temporaiy  chapel  till  the  county 
allowed  them  damages  for  their  loss,  so  as  to  enable  them  to  re- 
build their  church.  The  amount  claimed  was  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  for  three  years  the  county  oflBc^^'s  kept  the 
affair  before  the  courts  and  exhausted  every  subterfuge  to  escape 
payment.  Among  the  objections  put  forward  by  the  counsel  was 
one  which  should  be  given  as  a  proof  of  the  intense  stupidity, 
ignorance,  or  bad  faith  of  the  Pennsylv«a:?.  bar.  In  order  to  en- 
velop the  missionaries  in  tho  prejudice  against  the  negroes,  and 
so  array  the  jury  against  th^m,  it  was  stated  that  the  A  ugustini- 
ans  had  been  founded  by  an  Afiican  negro !  In  spitp  of  all, 
however,  forty-five  thousand  dollars  were  allowed,  and  in  184V  the 
new  church  of  St.  Augustine  was  opened  for  service. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


259 


At  St.  Michaera  a  shed  was  raised  among  the  ruins,  and  served 
as  a  temporary  chipel  fo:  some  years,  till  they  obti^ined  of  the 
county  the  indemnity  which  the  law  imposed,  and  applied  it  to 
build  the  church.  Thus,  loth  indeed  and  reluctantly,  Pennsyl- 
vania repaired,  at  least  in  part,  the  material  losses  caused  by  the 
riots  of  1844,  while  Massachusetts,  with  all  her  boasted  superi- 
ority, has  constantly  refused  from  1834  to  the  present  moment  to 
indemnify  the  Bishop  of  Boston  for  the  frightful  destruction  of 
the  Ursuline  Convent  of  Mount  Benedict. 

As  the  number  of  the  faithful  increased  in  Philadelphia,  the 
extent  of  the  State  rendered  the  episcopal  cliarge  too  heavy  for 
one  prelate. 

The  third  and  fifth  Councils  of  Baltimore  had  asked  the  divi- 
sion of  the  diocese,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontip"  effected  it  in  1843 
by  electing  the  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor  to  the  See  of  Pitts- 
burg. This  new  diocese  comprised  under  its  jurisdiction  the 
western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  and  we  shall  speak  of  it  in  the  en- 
suing chapter.  The  diocese  of  Philadelphia  retained  the  eastern 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  Western  New 
Jersey.  The  last  portion  was  detached  from  it  in  1853,  and  the 
whole  State  of  New  Jersey  was  formed  into  the  diocese  of  New- 
ark ;  so  that  we  shall  treat  at  a  proper  time  and  plac3  of  the  Cath- 
olics of  that  State. 

Delaware,  one  of  the  smallest  States  ii?  the  Union,  containing 
only  ninety  tb.ousand  inhabitants,  owes  its  name  to  Lord  De  la 
Ware,  one  of  the  early  governors  of  Virginia,  in  honor  of  whom 
the  river  Delaware  received  that  appellation,  which  it  eventually 
gave  to  the  Indians  on  its  banks  and  to  the  little  State  at  its 
mouth.  The  colonization  of  this  part  of  the  American  .  est  was 
first  projected  by  Gustavus  AdolpLus,  King  of  Sweden,  after 
whose  death  Oxenstiern  put  his  plan  in  execution  by  sendirg 
out  in  1638  two  ships  with  settlers.  A  Swedish  minister  came 
■IS  chaplain,  and  Lutheranism  was  the  first  creed  of  New  Sweden, 


X 


260 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


which  gradually  grew  up  around  Fort  Christina,  so  called  from 
that  qu-en  who  at  a  later  date  renounced  thron-^  and  lic/ine  to  re- 
turn to  the  creed  -A'  her  forefathers.  The  DuLcL  of  Nev.  AwMer- 
dam  (New  York)  let  up  claims  to  the  pait  otjoupied  by  t!  e 
Swedes,  and  conquered  it  in  1665.  IL  then  ;  oniain.i  B^.-jn  bur 
dred  European  inhsbitants.  Nine  years  after_  'he  Dutch  in  their 
turn  yielded  to  the  English,  und  Delawa.^  was  successively  an- 
nexed to  New  York  anu  Pennsylvania;  but  at  laft,  in  1703_,  "the 
three  counties  on  the  Delaware,'*  Ne  »^ca':tie,  Kent,  and  Sussex, 
resr-lved  to  foiin  a  separate  colony,  and  T*ot  to  send  '■  legates  to 
iiie  F^ansylv -inia  Assembly.  Delaware  thus  s*'.*''  a  population 
gathti'  of  V- ivedish  Lutherans,  Dutch  Calvinists,  English  Episco- 
paliarjs,  6p6  Quakers.  More  than  a  century  after  Sweden  had 
lost  all  ;>utiionty  over  the  colony,  the  National  Church  of  Stock- 
holm continued  to  maintain  missionaries  among  their  fellow- 
believers?  in  America,  and  the  Lutheran  Gimrch  there  even  now 
keeps  up  a  certain  intercourse  with  the  established  Church  in 
Sv^eden,  like  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  with  the  Classis 
in  Holland,  and  the  Episcopal  with  the  Anglican  Church. 

To  the  honor  of  the  Swedish  Lutherans,  it  must  be  stated  that 
they  showed  more  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians  than 
either  the  Calvinists  of  Holland,  or  the  Puritans,  Quakers,  or 
Episcopalians  of  England.  The  catechism  of  Luther  was  trans- 
lated into  Delaware  by  the  missionary  Campanius,  and  an  edition 
printed  at  Stockholm  in  1690  by  the  Swedish  king  for  gratuitous 
distribution  among  the  Indians. 

Amid  all  the  hostile  sects  on  the  soil  of  Delaware,  the  Catholic 
element  did  not  appear  till  late,  and  it  Ktill  constitutes  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  population.  Some  >,;  A  Catholic  families  of 
honor  in  our  national  annals  are  clai  '  bv  Delaware,  and 
among  th'  we  need  only  mention  th(  iiint  Shubiicks.  At 
the  Frenr'  .. involution,  too,  some  F:  .;  m,  .  atholics  settled  in  and 
near  Wilmington,  where  Huguenou*      d  removed  before  theiii. 


IP 


'"T»- 


called  from 
home  to  re- 
ev,  Air:il«r- 
)ied  by  t!:e 
ib^i.^n  bur 
itch  in  tiieir 
lessively  an-  . 

1703  "the 
and  Sussex, 
'^ '^legates  to 
I  population 
rlish  Episco- 
Sweden  had 
eh  of  Stock- 
their  fellow- 
re  even  now 
i  Church  in 
;h  the  Classis 
urch. 

B  stated  that 
Indians  than 

Quakers,  or 
er  was  trans- 
id  an  edition 
or  gratuitous 

the  Catholic 
itutes  only  a 
ic  families  of 
elaware,  and 
ubricks.  At 
iettled  in  and 
before  theiii. 


IN   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


261 


The  number  of  Catholics,  however,  remained  small.  Yet  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  from  Emmetsburg  founded  one  of  their  first 
houses  at  Wilmington,  and  opened  an  academy  about  1830,  and 
some  years  after,  an  orphan  asylum.  The  happy  results  of  this 
school  in  the  education  of  young  girls  soon  induced  the  Catholics 
of  Delaware  to  seek  a  college  for  their  boys,  and  the  zealous  pas- 
tor of  Wilmington,  the  Rev.  Patrick  Reilly,  at  great  sacrifice 
opened  in  1839  a  school  which  has  become  a  flourishing  college. 
In  1847  the  State  Legislature  granted  this  institution  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  a  university  ;  a  corps  of  seven  professors  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  the  young  men,  and  the  most 
eminent  Protestant  citizens  are  patrons  of  the  work. 

Under  the  able  and  vigilant  administration  of  Bishop  Kenrick, 
the  religious  establishments  extended  rapidly  in  other  parts  of  the 
diocese.  In  1838  the  Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo  at 
Philadelphia  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  from  1841  to  1863  it  was  directed  by  Lazarists,  who 
were  succeeded  by  secular  priests,  on  the  transfer  of  Bishop  Ken- 
rick to  the  metropolitan  See  of  Baltimore.  In  1842  the  Hermits 
of  St.  Augustine  opened  a  college  at  Villanova,*  but  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  church  and  library  at  Philadelphia  exhausted  their 
resources  and  deranged  all  their  plans ;  still,  they  successfully  re- 
suuied  '.he  college  exercises  in  1846,  and  the  Augustinians  now 
also  possess  at  Villanova  a  beautiful  monastery  and  novitiate. 

In  1851  the  Jesuits  founded  St.  Joseph's  College  in  Philadel- 
phia, which  was  removed  to  a  more  spacious  building  four  years 
later:  and  in  1852  't,he  Rev.  J.  Vincent  O'Reilly  opened  in  Sus- 
^^uehauna  county  another  college  under  the  name  of  St.  Joseph. 

When  B''  hop  Kenrick  was  appointed  Coadjutor  of  Philadel- 


*■  Villanova  is  thirteen  miles  from  Philadelphia,  on  the  {?reat  Pennsylvania 
Eaikoad.  In  1841,  Dr.  Moriarty,  Superior  of  the  Augustinians,  purchased 
two  hundred  acres  there,  which  are  cultivated  by  the  lay  brothers  of  the 
Order,  and  furnish  important  resources  for  the  college  and  community. 


,«»«^'  ■% 


■y  m 


« 


262 


:^HE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


phia,  the  diocese  possessed  only  a  few  Sisters  of  Charity  from 
Emmetsburg,  who  had  charge  of  an  orphan  asylum.  Now  six 
religious  communities  of  women  devote  themselves  Jo  all  the 
works  of  mercy,  and  effect  incalculable  good.  In  1842  the  La- 
dies of  the  Sacred  Heart  opened  a  boarding-school  for  girls  at 
McSherrystown,  near  the  Jesuit  mission  of  Conewago.  In  1847 
this  community  opened  a  school  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1849 
purchased  the  beautiful  spot  called  Eden  Hall,  which  offers  far 
greater  advantages  than  McSherrystown.  The  Ladies  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  accordingly  left  the  latter  house,  which  became  the 
novitiate  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph.  The  institute  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  founded  in  France  in  1800  by  Father  Joseph  Vaiin,  of  the 
Society  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  ii.nd  approved  in  1826  by  Pope  Leo 
XII.,  has  had  a  Superior-general  since  its  origin,  Madame  Magda- 
lene Josephine  Barat.  The  mother  house  is  at  Paris,  and  it  gov- 
erns the  whole  Order.  In  1817  the  first  establishment  of  the 
Sacred  Heart  in  America  was  founded  in  Missouri,  and  from  that 
time  these  pious  and  distinguished  ladies  have  extended  to  the 
dioceses  of  New  Orleans,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Detroit,  Albany, 
Buffalo,  and  the  Vicariate-apostolic  of  Indian  Territory.  Three 
hundred  and  fifty  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heait  devote  themselves  to 
the  education  of  young  ladies  in  twelve  academies,  and  maintain 
besides,*  in  connection  with  many  of  their  establishments,  free 
schools  for  poor  girls. 

In  the  year  1848  the  Visitation  Sisters,  from  Georgetown,  in 
their  turn  opened  an  academy  at  Philadelphia,  and  about  the 
same  time  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
same  city  to  take  charge  of  St.  John's  Orphan  Asylum.  The 
community  of  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  came  int^o  existence  at  Puy  in 
Velay,  France,  where  it  was  erected  by  the  Bishop  of  Puy, 
Henry  de  Maupas,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  "^^suit  Father  Medaille. 
In  the  cours(  of  his  missions  this  Father  as  ■<  .  led  some  holy 
virgins  who  longed  to  devote  themselves  to  Govj,  M\<i  in  1650  the 


4<^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


263 


care  of  the  orphan  asylum  at  Puy  was  conlSded  to  them.  Since 
then  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  have  extended  to  ahnost  every  dio- 
cese in  France,  and  have  establishments  also  in  Savoy  and  Cor- 
sica, la  1836  six  Sisters  of  this  congregation  proceeded  from 
the  diocese  of  Lyons  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  under  the  protection 
of  Bishop  Rosati.  In  1838  two  others,  who  had  learned  in 
France  the  manner  of  teaching  th^  deaf  and  dumb,  came  over 
and  joined  them.  They  soon  spread  greatly  in  the  United  States, 
and  now  number  over  a  hundred  Sisters ;  they  have  houses  oi 
their  Order  in  the  dioceses  of  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia,  Buffalo, 
Wheeling,  Quincy,  and  St.  Paul ;  thei*  principal  house  h  at  Ca- 
rondelet,  six  miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  and  in  1851  they  sent  a 
colony  from  Philadelphia  to  Toronto,  in  Canada  West.  This 
cong'.ogation  undertakes  all  works  of  mercy,  such  as  the  care  of 
hospitals,  prisons,  houses  of  refuge,  orphan  asylums,  also  directing 
schools  and  visiting  the  sick  in  their  dwellings.  At  Philadelphia 
the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph  conduct  St.  Anne's  Wiil  vvs'  Asylum, 
and  teach  twelve  hundred  children  in  their  schools.  Th.  novi- 
tiate is  at  McSherrystown,  in  the  old  convent  of  the  b-icred 
Heart,  and  in  1855  it  containea  eleven  novices  and  six  postulants. 
In  1849  Bishop  Kenrick  a'^o  enriched  his  diocese  with  a  com- 
munity of  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  in  order  to  create  an 
asylum  for  sinful  women,  who  wish  to  leave  a  life  of  disorder 
and  embrace  virtue.  This  community,  under  the  :izme  of  Our 
Lady  of  Charity,  was  first  established  in  1641  at  Caen,  in  Nor- 
mandy, by  the  celebrated  Father  Eudes,  founder  of  *\.s  s  oiety  of 
priests  called  Eudists.  Father  Eudes,  whose  sermons  reached 
every  conscience,  eflfected  a  revolution  in  the  life  o^  many  who 
lived  in  vice.  To  maintain  these  in  the  path  of  duty,  he  assem- 
bled them  together  and  put  them  under  the  direction  of  some 
b  i  listers.  The  community  was  approved  in  1666,  by  Pope 
A'  xa'udfir  VII.,  and  in  1741  by  Benedict  XIV.  It  acquired 
great  extent  in  France ;  in  1835  the  house  at  Angers  separated 


■{:♦• 


264 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


from  the  other  houses,  and  was  erected  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI. 
the  genera) atf  cf  .1  new  branch,  which  added  to  the  name  of  Our 
Lady  of  rUan'/  "t.*t  of  Good  Shepherd,  and  which  has  spread 
remarkably.     The  first  estabhshment  of  this  venerable  Order  in 
the  United  States  was  made  at  Louisville  in  1842.     They  arrived 
in  Philadelphia  in  1849,  and  took  care  of  the  Asylum  for  Widows 
till  1851,  when  they  were  e'n?»bi'^'l  to  open  an  asylum  for  penitent 
women.     They  have  now  thiity-six  peaitente,  and  receive  Protest- 
ants as  well  as  Catholics.     A  house  of  the  Good  Shepherd  was 
founded  in  St.  Louis  in  1849,  and  the  Archbishop  of  New  York 
is  now  collecting  the  funds  necessary  to  erect  an  asylum,  the  need 
of  which  is  felt  in  the  great  city  where  he  has  his  metropolitan  See. 
While  young  girls  of  American,  Irish,  and  French  origin  find 
in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia  abundant  resources  for  education 
at  the  Sacred  Heart  Visitation,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  the 
Sistars  of  Charity,  the  German  portion  have  had,  since  1849,  the 
School  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  at  St.  Peter's  L/hurch,  in  Phila- 
delphia.   The  Redemptorists  founded  this  church  in  1843,  anc 
immediately  opened  schools  for  boys.     Then,  as  soon  as  their  re- 
sources permitted,  they  invited  the  Bavarian  School  Sisters  of 
Notre  Dame,  wb  0  direct  the  German  schools  in  a  great  many 
parishes  served  by  the  Redemptorists.     In  spite  of  their  German 
origin,  these  good  Sisteio  preserve  the  French  name  of  Notre 
Dame,  a  proof  that  their  primitive  foundation  was  not  made  in 
Germany.     They  were,  in  fact,  founded  in  Lorraine  in   1697, 
under  the  name  of  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame, 
by  the  Blessed  Peter  Forier  and  the  venerable  Mother  Alice 
Leclerc*     Their  co;  tiunity  was  authorized  by  the  Bishop  of 


*  Mother  Alice  LecieiC,  born  la  1576,  died  in  1622 :  the  process  of  her 
canonization  was  begun,  but  was  finally  suspended  in  consequence  of  the 
revolutions.  The  Blessed  Peter  Fourier  was  born  at  Mireoourt  in  Lorraine, 
the  15th  of  November,  1565 ;  he  was  the  reformer  of  the  Canons  Regular  of 
Lorraine,  and  founder  of  the  congregation  of  Notre  Dame.  He  died  at  Gray 
on  the  Oth  of  November,  1640,  and  was  beatified  by  bulls  of  January  29, 1850. 


IN    THE    UNITED   STATES. 


265 


Toul  in  1598,  and  their  first  rule  made  by  the  Blessed  Peter, 
and  approved  in  1603  by  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  Legate  of  the 
Holy  See.  Pope  Paul  V.  erected  the  houses  of  the  Order  into 
monasteries  by  his  bulls  of  February  1,  1616,  and  October  6, 
1616;  and  in  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  century  there  were 
no  less  than  eighty  monasteries  of  this  institute  in  France,  Lor- 
raine, Germany,  and  Savoy.  On  the  dispersion  of  the  religious 
coramunities  in  the  Reign  of  Terror,  those  in  Franco  were  broken 
up,  and  about  the  same  time,  under  the  impulse  of  the  doctrines 
of  Joseph  L  of  Austria,  the  houses  in  the  electorate  of  Bavaria 
were  suppressed  and  the  Sisters  dispei-sed.  The  loss  was  deeply 
felt,  and  the  pious  Bishop  Wittman  of  Ratisbon,  in  1832,  re- 
solved to  revive  their  Order  and  restore  their  house  at  Stadt-am- 
hof.  The  rule  was  modified  to  suit  the  changed  circumstances 
of  the  times ;  and  as  they  were  intended  only  for  education,  they 
took  the  name  of  School  Sistere  of  Notre  Dame.  Mother  Mary 
Thercoa,  the  first  Superior-general,  still  survives,  and  had  the  con- 
solation of  seeing  her  Order  formally  approved  by  his  Holiness 
Pope  Pius  IX.,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1854. 

Prior  to  this,  in  1 84*7,  she  sent  from  the  mother  house,  at  Mu- 
n  h,  three  Sisters  to  foui^J  a  house  at  Baltimore.  The  mother 
house  of  the  Order  in  the  United  States  is  at  Milwaukie,  and  the 
residence  of  Sister  Mary  Caroline,  the  Vice  Superior-general. 
They  had  in  1855  twenty-one  novices  and  as  many  postulants, 
and  direct  German  schools  in  the  dioceses  of  Milwaukie,  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia,  New  York,  Pittsburg,  Buffalo,  and  Detroit. 

While  the  Sisters  of  the  Congregation  ^of  Notre  Dame  are 
increasing  in  Bavaria,  and  sending  colonies  to  the  United  States, 
another  part  of  America  beholds  in  a  state  of  prosperity  a  con- 
gregation which  bears  the  same  name  of  Notre  Dame,  and  which 
seems  to  us  to  have  some  ties  with  the  pious  institute  of  Mil- 
waukie. In  1826,  a  monastery  of  the  congregation  was  estab- 
lished at  Troyes,  in  Champagne,  under  the  episcopate  of  Ren6 

12 


266 


THU  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


1      i 


de  Breslay.  In  1653,  Monsieur  de  Maisaonneuve,  first  Governor 
of  Montreal,  in  Canada,  went  to  Troyes,  where  the  Sisters  of 
Notre  Dame  begged  him  to  take  some  of  their  religious  to  di- 
rect the  schools  in  this  new  colony.  Mr.  de  Maissonneuve  could 
not  bear  the  oxpense  of  this  new  foundation,  and  he  moreover 
believed  that,  in  the  precarious  state  of  the  colony,  an  order  of 
cloistered  religious  would  not  render  all  the  service  to  be  desired. 
He  accordingly  took  with  him  only  Margaret  Bourgeoys,  prefect 
of  the  external  congregation  founded  by  the  Sisters  at  Troyes ; 
and  the  holy  virgin  became  at  Montreal  the  foundress  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  which  now  com- 
prises in  Canada  twenty-five  missions,  two  hundred  Sisters,  and 
instructs  five  thousand  six  hundred  girls.*  There  is  still  another 
community  in  the  United  States,  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Sisters  of  Notre  Dame ;  but  its  origin  is  different.  It  was  found- 
ed in  1804,  by  Father  Joseph  Varin  and  Mother  Julia  Billiard. 
The  mother  house  is  at  Namur,  in  Belgium ;  and  it  has  houses  in 
the  United  States,  in  the  dioceses  of  Cincinnati,  Boston,  and  San 
Francisco. 

We  see  with  what  admirable  zeal  Bishop  Kenrick  labored  to 
aflford  his  diocese  the  benefits  of  numerous  religious  communi- 
ties ;  and  the  venerable  prelate  was  not  less  successful  in  in- 
creasing the  number  of  his  parochial  clergy.  When  he  became 
Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia  in  1 830,  the  diocese  contained  only  thirty 
priests.  When  the  confidence  of  the  Holy  See  called  him,  in 
1851,  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Baltimore,  he  left  to  his  successor 
ninety-four  churches  and  eight  chapels,  with  one  hundred  and 
one  priests  in  the  diocese,  besides  forty-six  seminarians,  although 
hair  of  Pennsylvania  had  been  erected  into  the  new  diocese  of 
Pittsburg.     The  clergy  formed  by  the  example  of  Bishop  Ken- 

♦  Helyot,  Hiatoire  des  Ordres  Religieux  (edition  Migne),  i.  1088.  Faillon, 
Vie  de  la  Soeur  Bourgeoys,  Villemarie,  1858.  Laroohe  Heron,  Leg  Servantea 
de  Dieu,  Canada.    Montreal,  1855,  p.  48. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


267 


rick  has  counted  in  ita  ranks  the  most  eminent  members  of  the 
Church  in  the  United  States :  the  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Pastor  of 
St.  John's,  Philadelphia,  now  Archbishop  of  New  York ;  the 
Rev.  Peter  R.  Kenrick,  Vicar  of  the  Cathedral  in  1836,  and 
now  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis ;  the  Rev.  Edward  Barron,  Vicar- 
general  of  the  diocese  in  1839,  and  in  1843  Vicar-apostolic  of 
Upper  and  Lower  Guinea  ;  the  Rev.  F.  X.  Gartland,  Vicar  of  St. 
John's  in  1834,  and  in  1850  Bishop  of  Savannah ;  the  Rev. 
Michael  O'Connor,  Pastor  of  Morristown  in  1840,  and  in  1843 
Bishop  of  Pittsburg;  the  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden,  Pastor  of  St. 
Paul's,  Pittsburg,  in  1838,  who  has  repeatedly  refused  to  quit  his 
parish  of  Bedford  to  assume  the  mitre. 

But  we  owe  a  special  mention  to  a  holy  religious,  who  exer- 
cised the  ministry  in  Pennsylvania  for  several  years — in  1836 
at  Conewago,  and  in  1834  at  Philadelphia.  In  1807,  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Barber,  Congregationalist  minister  in  New  England,  had 
baptized  in  his  sect  Misa  Allen,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Amer- 
ican general,  Ethan  Allen,  so  renowned  in  Vennont,  his  native 
State.  The  young  lady  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age  ;  oin, 
soon  after  proceeded  to  Montreal,  where,  entering  the  acp  Ivioy 
of  the  Sisters  of  the  Congrerjsuon  of  Notre  Dame,  she  be-ira:*)'^  a 
Catholic,  and  devoting  herself  to  God,  joined  the  col  u  ■  >!tv  «)t 
Hospital  Nuns,  at  the  Hotel  Dieu,  where  she  died  piou;^;  ■" 
1819,  having  induced  the  Protestant  physician  who  attended  her 
to  embrace  Catholicity  by  the  mere  spectacle  of  her  last  mc 
ments.  The  conversion  of  Sister  Allen  produced  other  fruits  of 
grace  on  her  co-religionists,  and  her  former  pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Barber,  after  becoming  a  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
sect,  halted  not  in  the  way  of  truth,  but  abjured  the  errors  of  the 
pretended  Reformation,  in  1816.  The  son  of  this  clergyman, 
the  Rev.  Virgil  Barber,  born  on  the  9  th  of  May,  1*782,  was  also 
a  minister.  He,  too,  had  been  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
joining  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  entered  it  with  his  father. 


i 


4 
\ 

f 


I 


i.    ( 


'  i 


268 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Mrs.  Virgil  Barber  followed  their  example,  and  she  and  her  hus- 
band resolved  to  abandon  all  and  separate  from  each  other,  for 
God's  service.  Mr.  Virgil  Barber,  in  consequence,  went  to  Rome 
in  1817,  and  ob  ainad  of  the  Sovereign  PontiflF  the  authority 
necessary  for  the  step.  He  entered  the  ecclesiastical  state,  was 
ordained  in  that  city,  and  after  spending  two  years  there,  returned 
from  Europe,  bringing  his  wife  authorization  to  embrace  the  re- 
ligious state.  She  had  entered  the  Visitation  Nuns  at  George- 
town, and  for  two  years  followed  the  novitiate.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Barber  had  five  children,  four  daughters  and  one  son.  The  last 
was  placed  at  the  Jesuit  College  at  Georgetown,  while  the  daugh- 
tei-s  were  at  the  Academy  of  the  Visitation,  yet  without  knowing 
that  their  mother  was  a  novice  in  the  house.  The  time  of  her 
probation  having  expired,  the  five  children  were  brought  to  the 
chapel  to  witness  their  mother's  profession,  and  at  the  same  time, 
on  the  steps  of  the  altar,  their  father  devoting  himself  to  God  as 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus !  At  this  touching  and  unex- 
pected sight,  the  poor  children  burst  into  sobs,  believing  them- 
selves forsaken  on  earLh.  But  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven 
watched  over  them ;  hv^.  inspired  the  four  daughters  with  the  de- 
sire of  embracing  the  religious  state,  and  three  of  them  entered 
the  Ursulines :  one  at  Quebec,  one  at  Boston,  and  one  at  Three 
Rivers.  The  fourth  made  her  profession  among  the  Visitandines 
of  Georgetown  ;  their  brother  Samuel  was  received  into  the  So- 
ciety of  Jesus,  and  is  now  at  Frederick.* 

Father  Virgil  Barber,  after  filling  with  general  edification  sev- 
eral posti  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  became  Professor  of 
Hebrew  in  Georgetown  College,  an^.  died  there  March  2*7, 1847, 


*  Faillon,  Vie  de  M'lle  Mance,  et  Histoire  de  I'Hotel  Diou  de  Vlllemarie,  i. 
294 ;  Catholic  Almanac  for  1848,  p.  263.  Sister  Mary  Barber  (of  St.  Benedict) 
witnessed  the  destruction  of  the  Ursuline  Convent,  near  Boston,  and  died  at 
Quebec,  May  9,  1848.  Sister  Catharine  Barber  (of  St.  Thomas)  followed 
Bishop  Odin  to  Texas,  in  1849. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


269 


at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  Sister  Barber  long  resided  at  Kaskas- 
kia,  lUiuois,  where  she  founded  a  Monastery  of  the  Visitation. 
The  grace  of  conversion  extended  also  to  other  members  of  the 
family,  and  a  nephew  and  pupil  of  Father  Virgil  Barber,  Wil- 
liam Tyler,  born  in  Protestantism  at  Derby,  Vermont,  in  1804, 
became  in  1844  first  Catholic  Bishop  of  Hartford,  and  died  in 
his  diocese  in  1849. 

This  is  not  the  only  example  which  the  United  States  presents 
of  married  persons,  who,  on  embracing  Catholicity,  have  carried 
the  sacrifice  to  its  utmost  limits,  and  asked  as  a  signal  favor  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  religious  state.  Father  John  Austin 
Hall,  a  Dominican  and  Apostle  of  Ohio  from  1822  to  1828,  was 
an  English  oflRcer  of  many  years'  standing,  who,  touched  by  the 
spectacle  offered  by  religion  in  Italy  and  France,  abjured  heresy, 
and  converted  his  family  and  his  sister.  The  latter  and  his  wife 
entered  a  community  of  English  Augustinian  Nuns  in  Belgium, 
while  Father  Hall  assumed  the  habit  of  St.  Dominic  ;  and  this 
zealous  missionary,  dying  at  Caiton,  Ohio,  in  1828,  left  to  the 
United  States  the  reputation  of  the  most  eminent  virtues.  But 
these  separations  from  religious  motives  have  at  times  been  the 
occasion  of  scandals  in  the  Church,  and  the  prosecutions  insti- 
tuted by  the  Rev.  Pierce  Connelly  have  been  too  widely  made 
known,  for  us  to  pass  over  them  here. 

The  Rev.  Pierce  Connelly  was  minister  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  in  1827,  and  was  distinguished 
by  his  Puseyite  tendencies,  which  drew  on  him  the  violent  at- 
tacks of  the  Protestant  press.  In  1836  he  set  out  for  Europe, 
accompanied  by  his  wife.  She  became  a  Catholic  at  New  Or- 
leans some  days  before  setting  sail,  and  her  husband  followed 
her  example  at  Rome,  in  the  Church  of  Trinity  de  Monti,  March 
28th,  1836.  In  the  first  fervor  of  their  conversion,  they  asked 
to  devote  themselves  to  God  by  the  vows  of  religion ;  but  were 
dissuaded  from  accomplishing  the  sacrifice,  and  after  two  years 


II 


l;i  11 


11 


11 


270 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


spent  in  Rome  and  France,  they  returned  to  America,  wl  ere 
they  lived  several  years  in  retirement.  In  the  month  of  Ji  y, 
1842,  Mr.  Connelly  gave  a  lecture  in  the  Cathedral  of  Balii- 
more,  embracing  an  edifying  account  of  his  conversion.  Soon 
after,  they  both  returned  to  Rome,  and  so  earnestly  renewed 
their  petition,  that  they  were  at  last  allowed  to  separate.  Mrs. 
Connelly  entered  the  Institute  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  in  1844, 
Mr.  Connelly  received  the  tonsure  in  the  church  of  the  house 
where  his  wife  was.  Two  years  after,  he  was  ordained,  but  in 
vain  solicited  entrance  into  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  also  declined  to  receive  the  profession  of  Mrs. 
Connelly.  She  accordingly  left  Rome  and  went  to  England, 
where  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  gave  her  a  house  to  found  an 
educational  establishment.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Connelly  at  the  same 
time  became  the  chaplain  of  the  earl,  and  the  tutor  of  his  adopt- 
ed son.  Ere  long,  however,  the  frequent  interchange  of  letters 
between  the  two  converts  excited  distrust,  and  Mrs.  Connelly,  by 
her  confessor's  advice,  refused  to  continue  it.  Of  this  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Connelly  complained  bitterly,  and  gradually  relapsing  into 
Protestantism,  applied  to  the  English  tribunals  to  recover  his 
wife.  The  proceedings  which  ensued  created  great  discussion 
in  England  in  1849  and  1850;  but  Mrs.  Connelly  always  refused 
to  violate  the  vows  of  religion  which  she  had  pronounced,  not 
merely  with  the  consent,  but  at  the  entreaty  of  her  husband  ; 
and  she  continues  to  lead  an  exemplary  life  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
munity, first  at  Derby,  but  afterwards  transferred  to  Hastings. 
Baffled  ambition  seems  to  have  been  the  unfortunate  cause  of 
Mr.  Connelly's  fall.  Flattered  by  the  welcome  shown  him  at 
Rome,  he  thought  only  of  becoming  a  bishop,  and  even  a  cardi- 
nal ;  and  the  honorable  position  which  the  earl  gave  him  in  his 
family  was  not  sufficieni  to  satisfy  Connelly'e  vanity.''- 


*  IT.   S.  Catholic    M.    'izine,  1842,  p.  409 ;    1844,  p.  540 ;   1849,  p.  290 ; 
416,  p.  800. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


271 


The  vigilant  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  whose  numerous  labors 
we  have  mentioned,  found,  moreover,  time  to  write  and  publish 
several  works  which  enjoy  a  merited  reputation  wherever  the 
English  language  is  spoken.  His  Dogmatic  and  Moral  Theology, 
in  seven  volumes,  is  a  complete  treatise  on  the  sacred  science, 
adapted  to  the  general  wants  of  the  country. 

"  The  appearance  of  so  large  a  work  written  in  good  Latin, 
and  intended  really  for  use,  was  a  source  of  wonder  to  the  Prot- 
estant public  and  clergy,  few  of  whom  could  even  read  it  with- 
out some  difficulty,  and  none,  perhaps,  with  ease.  Considered  in 
a  literary  point  of  view,  it  marks  the  classic  character  of  our 
writers,  a  familiarity  with  Roman  literature,  which  is  unequalled 
in  the  country.  The  canons  and  decrees  of  the  Councils  held 
at  Baltimore,  which  England's  first  Orientalist,  Cardinal  Wise- 
man, ranks  with  those  of  Milan,  display  an  equally  correct  taste. 
Even  in  the  backwoods,  with  rough  work  and  rough  men,  Badin, 
the  first  priest  ordained  in  our  land,  sings  in  Latin  verse  the 
praises  of  the  Trinity."* 

The  Church,  by  preserving  Latin  as  the  Liturgical  language, 
saved  that  noble  language  from  oblivion,  and  through  it  saved 
the  Greek  ;  and  Protestantism,  with  its  love  for  the  vernacular, 
devoted  the  highest  classes  of  society  to  ignorance  of  the  authors 
of  ancient  Rome.  A  few  year:  since,  the  United  States  regard- 
ed as  a  wonder  a  Latin  life  of  Washington,  and  vaunted  it  be- 
yond all  conception  by  the  tliousand-tongued  press.  There  is 
not  a  Catholic  country  curste  tliat  could  not  have  done  as  much ; 
and  yet  public  opinion  in  America  will  long  preserve  the  preju- 
dice that  ignorance  is  the  necessary  condition  of  Catholics.     In 


*  Catholic  Literature  in  the  United  States,  Metropolitan  Magazine,  i.  74 

Tlie  title  of  the  poem  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Badin  is,  "  Sanctisftimse  Trini- 

atis  Laudcs,  et  invocatio ;    Carmen ;    auotore  Stephano  Theodore    Badin, 

?rotosaccrdote  Baltimorenai,  probantc,"  Ac.     Ludovicivillae,  tynus,  E.  J. 

Webb. 


% 


fill 

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272 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


the  United  States,  an  author  need  only  be  suspected  of  not  be- 
ing a  Protestant,  for  his  work  to  be  prejudged  and  precondemn- 
ed;  and  it  is  the  same  in  England.  Yet  Americans  should 
remember  that  the  Catholic  clergy  of  Canada  taught  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Mohawlrs  to  read  and  write  within  twenty  miles  of 
Albany,  at  a  time  when  there  was  not  a  Latin  school  in  the 
whole  colony  of  New  York.  Quebec  had  a  college  before  New 
England  could  boast  of  one ;  and  so  completely  was  the  idea  of 
Catholicity  then  blended  with  that  of  classical  studies,  that  in  1685, 
when  a  Latin  school  was  opened  at  New  York,  the  master  was 
ipso  facto  suspected  of  being  a  Jesuit.* 

Bishop  Kenrick  also  wrote  the  "  Primacy  of  the  Apostolic 
See,"  one  of  the  most  remarkable  works  issued  in  America. 
The  book  first  appeared  in  several  letters,  or  parts,  as  a  refutii- 
tion  of  the  attacks  on  the  Papacy  made  by  the  Right  Rev.  John 
H.  Hopkins,  Protestant  Bishop  of  Vermont.  These  letters  were 
first  published  in  1842  and  1843  ;  but  the  eminent  author  sub- 
sequently recast  the  whole  work,  dropping  the  aggressive  and 
familiar  tone  of  controversy,  and  in  its  new  form  it  has  passed 
through  several  editions  in  America,  and  been  even  translated 
into  German.  The  learned  prelate  has  also  composed  treatises 
on  Baptism  and  Justification  ;  and  his  old  antagonist.  Dr.  Hop- 
kins, having  published  "  The  End  of  Controversy  Controverted," 
Archbishop  Kenrick,  in  1855,  replied  in  his  "Vindication  of  the 
Catholic  Church,"  a  series  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Bishop  of 
Vermont. 

On  the  death  of  the  Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  fifth  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  the  distinguished  merit  of  Bishop  Kenrick 
marked  him  as  the  fittest  to  occupy  the  Metropolitan  See,  and 
he  was  in  fact  called  to  that  dignity  by  bull  of  August  3,  1851. 
His  successor  at  Philadelphia  is  the  Right  Rev.  John  Nepomucen 


*  Canada  and  her  Historian^.     Metropolitan  Magazine,  i.  148. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


273 


Neumann,  of  the  Order  of  the  Most  Holy  Kcieemer,  a  native  of 
the  Austrian  States.  At  the  time  of  his  election,  the  new  prelate 
was  rector  of  the  Redemptorist  house  at  Baltimore :  he  was  con- 
secrated on  the  28th  of  March,  1852.  i 

Bishop  Neumann  has  zealously  continued  the  work  of  his 
predecessor;  and  although  his  diocese  lost  in  1853  half  of  New 
Jersey,  it  contained,  in  1856,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
churches  and  chapels,  with  twenty-fiv«  other  stations,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  priests,  and  a  Catholic  population  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  souls. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

PENNSYLVANIA (1750-1840.) 

Diocese  of  Pittsburg— Tht  Recollects  at  Fort  Dnqaesne — ^The  Rev.  Father  Braners — 
Sketch  of  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin. 

We  have  stated  already  that  the  Holy  See  in  1843  yielded  to 
the  request  of  the  Fifth  Council  of  Baltimore,  by  forming  the 
western  part  or  Pennsylvania  into  a  distinct  diocese  from  that  of 
Philadelphia.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1843,  the  Very  Rev. 
Michael  O'Connor  was  called  to  the  new  See  of  Pittsburg,  and 
that  prelate  being  in  Rome  at  the  time  received  consecration  in 
the  Holy  City,  on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption.  Bishop  O'Con- 
nor, born  in  Ireland,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1810,  was 
ordained  at  Rome  in  the  year  1833,  devoted  himself  to  the 
American  missions  in  1838,  and  after  serving  several  parishes  in 
the  interior  of  Pennsylvania,  was  successively  professor  in  thf 
seminary,  paster   at  Pittsburg,  and  Vifar-geueral  of   the  dio- 

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THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


cese,  displaying  in  all  these  functions  a  zeal  and  talents  which 
soon  marked  him  for  the  episcopacy. 

The  Jesuit  missionaries  of  Maryland  did  not  extend  the  circle 
of  their  apostleship  to  that  part  of  Pennsylvania  now  comprised 
in  the  Sees  of  Pittsburg  and  Erie.     Colonization,  which  always 
began  by  the  belt  of  land  lying  nearest  to  the  ocean,  had  not  yet 
penetrated  so  far,  and  the  Indians  inhabited  the  forests  undis- 
turbed by  the  clearings  of  the  white  man.     So  little   was  it 
known  that  even  in  1*750  it  was  not  settled  whether  the  Ohio 
began  in  Pennsylvania  or  in  Virginia.     Down  almost  to  the 
close  of  the  last  century  the  missionaries  penetrated  no  further 
west  than  Conewago ;  but  the  new  emigrants  gradually  striking 
inland,  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  and  as  they  bore  civilization  to 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  Ohio,  priests  came  that  Catholics  might 
not  be  destitute  of  all  religious  aid.     In  the  year  1798,  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Brauers,  a  Dutch  Franciscan,  settled  at  Youngstown, 
where  he  bought  a  farm  and  built  a  chapel.     This  village  is  not 
far  from  Pittsburg,  and  it  was  then  the  only  spot  where  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  was  oftered  for  the  salvation  of  men  in  the  vast 
territory  which  wae  erected  in  1843  into  the  diocese  of  Pitts- 
burg.    From  Lake  Erie  to  Conewago,  from  the  first  hills  of  the 
Alleghany  to  the  Ohio,  there  existed  no  church,  no  priest,  ex- 
cept the  humble  oratory  of  Father  Brauers ;  and  now  the  district 
forms  two  dioceses,  where   a  population  of  60,000  Catholics 
receive  the  care  of  eighty  priests,  in  ninety  churches.     The  Right 
Rev.  Doctor  O'Connor  assures  us  that  he  has  been  told  by  one  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants,  that  the  first  Catholics  in  that  part  of 
Pennsylvania  came  from  Goshenhoppen,  and  that  the  missionary 
who  served  that  parish  promised  that  they  should  be  visited  in 
the  new  settlement  by  another  priest.     It  was  in  fulfilment  of 
this  promise  that  Father  Brauers  settled  at  Youngstown.      His 
death  gave  rise  to  a  curious  lawsuit,  in  which  the  Pennsylvania 
judges  showed   themselves   the   enlightened   protectors  of  the 


jV<*«>^>-,, 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


275 


rights  of  the  Church  ;  and  such  a  spirit  of  justice  is  more  de- 
serving of  mention,  as  it  is  not  always  found  in  the  law  courts  of 
the  United  States.  By  his  will,  dated  at  Greensburg,  West- 
moreland county,  October  24,  1*789,  Father  Theodore  Brauers 
had  left  his  property  to  his  successor,  on  condition  of  his  saying 
masses  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  A  wandering  priest  named 
Francis  Fromm,  took  possession  of  the  parsonage  and  church ;  and 
as  he  said  the  mapses,  claimed  the  property  against  the  lawful 
priest  sent  by  the  BisLop.  Father  Brauers'  executors  had 
recourse  to  law,  and  the  judge  decided  that  a  Catholic  priest 
must  be  sent  by  his  Bishop,  although  ne  expressed  his  astonish- 
ment that  a  man  of  Father  Brauers'  good  sense  should  order 
masses  to  be  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.*  The  first  talent  in 
Pennsylvania  was  employed  in  the  suit,  in  which  Judges  Bald- 
win and  Breckenridg©  both  spoke.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Fromm  proved 
that  he  was  a  regular  priest,  and  exhibited  the  certificate  cf  the 
Bishop  of  Mentz,  as  well  as  the  consent  of  Father  Brauers'  con- 
gregation. These  considerations  might  have  influenced  the 
judges;  but  their  decision  upheld  the  Bishop,  and  this  case  has 
been  repeatedly  cited  as  an  authority  in  cases  of  a  similar  nature. 
Father  Brauers  >vas  not  the  first  priest,  nor  even  the  first 
Franciscan,  who  ofFe/ed  the  Sacred  Victim  on  the  soil  of  Western 
Pennsylvania;  and  as  early  as  1755,  that  is,  just  a  century 
since,  we  find  French  Recollects  attached  as  chaplains  to  the 
French  forts  on  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  That  part  of  Penn.'syl- 
vania  was  then  claimed  by  France,  and  in  fact  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Ohio  is  comprised  in  the  Letters  Patent  of  Louisiana,  in 
1712.  The  actual  taking  of  possession  is  not  more  undoubted 
than  the  discovery,  and  the  Canadians  had  launched  their  canoes 
on  the  Beautiful  River  years  before  the  Pennsylvania  settlers 
knew  of  its  existence.    To  unite  the  establishments  on  the  St. 


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*  Executors  of  Brauers  agai&st  Fromm.    Add.  Pennsylvania  KoportB,  page 
882.    Father  Braners'  name  is  in  the  Bible  of  1790. 


'I  HI 


276 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Lawrence  with  those  on  the  Mississippi,  France  first  reared  a 
line  of  defences  along  the  lakes,  the  "Wabash  and  Illinois ;  but  the 
Ohio  valley  had  been  left  exposed  to  the  enterprise  of  the  English 
colonies.  To  close  it,  the  governors  of  Canada,  in  1753  and 
1754,  built  between  Lake  Erie  on  the  Ohio,  Fort  Presqu'ile,  now 
the  city  of  Erie,  Fort  Ltboeuf,  or  "  de  la  Riviere  aux  Bceufs,"  at 
Waterford,  the  post  of  Venango,  Fort  Machault,  and  where 
Pittsburg  now  stands,  the  celebrated  Fort  Duquesne.*  For 
four  years  the  French  valiantly  defended  these  posts  against  far 
superior  forces,  and  Washington  made  his  first  campaign  near 
Fort  Duquesne  against  his  future  allies.  At  the  close  of  1758, 
however,  the  garrison  fired  the  fort  and  retired,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  the  other  forts  were  similarly  abandoned.  Although 
these  forts  had  trifling  garrisons,  not  exceeding,  in  general,  two 
hundred  men,  they  had  a  regular  chapla|||a  proof  how  impor- 
tant a  place  religion  held  in  the  ancient  organization  of  France ; 
and  in  the  Registre  des  Postes  du  Roi,  still  preserved  at  Montreal, 
is  the  record  of  the  burials  and  baptisms  at  Fort  Duquesne  from 
1764  to  1756. 


*  Earthworks  of  considerable  extent  are  still  pointed  out  near  Erie  as  the 
ruins  of  the  French  fort.  Fourteen  miles  southeast  of  Erie,  Waterford  vil- 
lage lies  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Leboeuf,  at  the  spot  where  Fort  Lebcenf 
stood,  and  where  its  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen.  The  stream  running^  from  the 
lake  is  still  called  Leboeuf  creek,  and  empties  into  French  creek,  which  pours 
its  waters  into  the  Alleghany.  Franklin  village,  the  county  towu  of  Venango, 
is  at  the  confluence  of  French  creek  and  the  Alleghany.  Traces  of  the 
French  intrenchments  are  still  to  be  seen.  The  one  on  the  right  was  Fort 
Machault ;  that  on  the  left  Venango.  About  1804  a  small  silver  chalice  was 
dug  up  at  Waterford,  near  the  ruins  of  the  French  fort,  and  was  purchased 
by  a  pious  Catholic  lady,  Mrs.  Vankirk,  to  save  it  from  profanation.  We 
owe  these  interesting  details  as  to  the  position  of  the  old  French  forts  to  tl>e 
kindness  of  the  Kighi,  Rev.  J.  M.  Young,  Bishop  of  Erie,  to  whom  we  ex- 
press our  acknowledgment.  Sargent,  in  h.\%  History  of  Braddock''8  Exj.)editinn, 
confirms  it,  and  states  that  the  ruins  of  Fort  Venango  cover  a  space  of  400 
feet  square.  The  ramparts  arc  eight  feet  high.  All  these  posts  are  necu- 
rntely  laid  down  in  an  excellent  sketch  of  Canadian  history  by  Dussieiix, 
i.ijt.Ii''*- 1  :\\  V.iri^  in  1^^-:.. 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


277 


By  this  we  learn  that  Father  Denis  Baron,  Recollect,  was  at 
thpt  time  chf»'^^  lin  iit  Fort  Dnv|ue8ne;  nnd  on  the  30th  of  July, 
1756,  an  entry  of  a  burial,  is  signed  by  Father  Luke  Collet, 
chap'din  of  the  King  at  Forts  Prtsqu'ile  and  Riviere  aux  Boeufs. 
This  Franciscan  was  merely  on  a  visit  at  Fort  Duquesne,  as  he 
officiated  in  the  presence  of  the  regular  chaplain.  Father  Baron. 
The  latter  was  born  at  Pov+f'-l^'^-  in  Franche  Comto,  and  arrived 
at  Quebec  in  1740.  He  was  probably  a  deacon  at  the  time,  for 
the  register  of  ordinations  at  Quebec  mentions  him  as  ordained 
pri*"  *  there  on  the  13d  of  September,  1741.  Father  Denis 
Baron  was  sent  successively  )  Three  Rivers,  Montreal,  Niagara, 
(jape  Breton,  and  to  Acadia.  We  find  him  then  chaplain  at 
Fort  Duquesne,  Fort  St.  John,  Fort  St.  Frederic  or  Crown 
Point,  and  the  register  of  this  last  post  shows  that  he  died  and 
was  buried  there  on  the  6th  of  November,  l7o8.* 

Father  Luke  Collet,- a  Ca'^mdian  by  birth,  was  ordained  at 
Quebec  on  the  24th  of  February,  1753,  and  after  remaining  in 
his  convent  till  1754,  was  sent  to  the  forts  in  tVe  valley  of  the 
Ohio.f     These  Fathers  belonged  to  the  reform  of  the  Franciscan 


•%  P 


*  In  hy»  biographical  notices  of  the  Canadian  clergy,  the  late  Mr.  Nois. 
eux,  Vicar-general  of  Quebec,  say;,  that  Father  Denis  Baron  died  in  Acadia 
at  tiie  close  of  September,  1755,  while  the  register  of  the  Fort  St.  Frederic 
states  oflRcially  that  he  (Jied  in  November,  1758.  This  single  fact  shows  how 
careful  writers  should  be  in  adopting  the  statements  of  Mr.  Noiseux,  which 
he  never  intended  should  bo  made  -ublic,  and  was  prevented  by  death  from 
correcting.  Unfortunately  they  were  after  his  death  pot  forward  as  extreme- 
ly accurate,  and  have  led  to  many  ei  o'"s. 

t  Father  Collet  is  placed  by  Mr.  Noisenx  at  Chaleur  Bay  at  the  very  mo- 
ment when  wo  find  him  at  Fort  Duquesne.  The  biographer  adds  tlu^  he 
was  taken  there  by  the  English  in  1760  and  carried  to  England.  On  bJ.ng 
set  at  liberty  in  November,  1760,  he  p  ^icd  over  to  France  and  never  return- 
ed to  Canada.  What  truth  there  may  be  in  this  we  know  not,  but  he  was 
certainly  in  Illinois.  We  are  indebted  for  extracts  from  the  Registers  to  our 
venerable  friend,  the  Hon.  Jacques  Viger,  firyt  Mayor  of  Montreal,  Chevalier 
of  the  order  of  St.  Gregory,  whose  accuracy  is  proverbial  in  Canada,  and  to 
whose  aid  we  have  frequently  I'ad  recourse,  and  as  we  gratefully  acknow- 
lo  kre,  not  in  vnin. 


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THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


order  caMed  Pocollects,  the  first  of  whom  arri' .  i  in  Canada  in 
16 Id,  with  Samuel  Charaplain.  Sent  back  tc  France  in  1629 
on  the  capture  of  Quebec  by  the  English,  they  returned  only  in 
1670,  and  from  that  time  never  left  Canada;  but  as  the  English 
government  seized  their  property  and  prevented  their  receiving 
novices,  their  order  is  now  extinct  in  that  province,  the  last  sur- 
vivor, a  lay  brother,  having  died  a  few  years  ago.* 

It  may  easily  be  imagined  that  amid  the  privations  of  a  fron- 
tier post,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  the  Recollecta  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne  and  Fort  Machault,  could  make  no  eflFort  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  Indians  by  whom  they  were  surrounded :  Dela- 
wares,  among  whom  the  Moravians  were  beginning  to  toil,  Sene- 
cas,  whom  the  Jesuits  had  so  long  taught ;  if  they  ministered  to 
any  it  was  to  the  wandering  Catholic  Huron  from  Sandusky,  or 
Miami  from  St.  Joseph's,  the  men  whom  Beaujeu  led  to  victory 
over  the  disciplined  troops  of  Braddock.  Their  functions  were 
those  of  itj;ilitary  chaplains :  and  when  they  disappeared  with  the 
regiuieiits  o(  France,  thirty  years  rolled  by  without  the  cross  re- 
appearing iu  Western  Pennsylvania;  but  in  1Y99  a  young  priest 
took  up  his  abode  among  the  most  rugged  summits  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies ;  there  he  built  churches,  founded  villages,  attracted  a 
Catholic  population,  by  advantageous  grants  of  land,  and  the 
superior  spiritual  advantages  enjoyed  at  Loretto ;  and  after  an 
apostolic  career  of  forty-one  years,  after  expending  $150,000  of 
his  fortune  in  this  admirable  work,  he  died,  leaving  ten  thousand 
Catholics  in  the  mountains,  where  he  had  found  only  twelve 
families.  This  holy  priest,  who  in  his  humility  called  himself 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  deserves  to  be  known  by  his  true  name,  and 


*  The  Friars  Minors  of  the  Strict  Observance,  called  in  France  Recollects, 
are  a  reform  of  the  Franciscans.  It  began  in  Spain  in  1584,  and  their  first 
establishment  in  Paris  dates  from  1605.  Henry  IV.,  Louia  XIII.,  and  L(  uia 
XIV.  greatly  favored  these  zealous  religious.  Helyot^  Histoire  dcb  Ordres 
religieux(Ed.  Migne)  iii.  332. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


279 


we  do  not  hesitate  to  relate  at  some  length  his  history,  one  of  the 
most  edifying  which  the  Church  in  the  United  States  presents. 
Pemetrius  Augustine  Gallitzin  was  born  at  the  Hague,  on  the 
22d  of  December,  1770.      His  father  was  then  Russian  ambassa- 


dor in  Holland,  and  before  ^ 
had  been  in  the  same  capacit 


stay,  he  had  become   intiis 
Diderot,  whose  perfidious  prais 
sian  prince.     At  a  later  date  w 


g  intrusted  with  that  embassy, 
iris,  where,  during  his  long 
connected   with   Voltaire  and 
ered  the  vanity  of  the  Rus- 
;.;;(:  liim  a  correspondent  of  Vol- 
taire, and  in  many  of  his  letters  the  philosopher  piaises  the  Mus- 
covite noble  for  his  devotedness  to  science,  and  above  all  for  his 
spirit  of  toleration.     This  was  the  period  when  Voltaire,  as  bad  a 
Frenchman  as  he  was    a  man,  wrote  to  the  empress  that  he 
regretted  that  he  was  not  a  Russian.     The  mother  of  our  mis- 
sionaiy,  Amelia,  Countess  of  Schmettau,  Princess  Gallitzin,  be- 
longed to  a  great  German  family.     She  was  daughter  of  Countess 
Ruflfert  and  of  one  of  Frederick  the  Great's  favorites,  Marshal 
Count  Schmettau.     She  had  two  brothers,  distinguished  in  the 
Prussian  army,  one  of  them  having  been  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Jena.    The  Princess  Ajiielia  was  brought  up  a  Catholic,  and  in 
early  childhood  showed  much  piety,  but  at  the  age  of  nine,  as 
she  herself  said,  was  diverted  from  devotion  by  the  charms  of 
flattery.     She  then  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  infidel  tutor,  who 
made  it  a  point  to  extinguish  the  faith  in  the  heart  of  his  pupil, 
an^  her  marriage  with  Prince  Gallitzin  tended  still  more   to 
plunge  her  into  incredulity.    Diderot,  at  Paris,  endeavored  to 
dazzle  her  by  the  sophisms  of  his  system  of  atheism ;  but  the 
perusal  of  infidel  works  only  excited  disquiet  as  to  the  state  of 
her  conscience,  and  soon  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  she  resolved 
to  retire  to  Munster  and  live  in  solitude  and  reflection.     In  1783 
God,  in  His  mercy,  sent  her  a  serious  illness.     Visited  by  the 
holy  priest,  Bernard  Overberg,  she  would  not,  from  human  pride, 
seem  to  fear  death,  but  promised,  in  case  she  recovered  her  health, 


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280 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


/ 


to  study  Christianity  seriously.  On  her  recovery  she  kept  her 
word.  She  was  under  instruction  three  years,  and  at  last,  on  the 
28th  of  August,  1786,  made  her  first  communion.  Directed  in 
the  ways  of  piety  by  the  Abbot  of  Furstenberg,  and  by  Father 
Overberg,  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  days .  in  prayer,  in  struggles 
against  self-will,  and  in  regret  over  her  past  life.* 

Her  son,  young  Demetrius,  was  carefully  brought  up  aloof 
from  every  religious  idea.  The  prince  surrounded  him  with 
infidel  philosophers,  and  watched  with  argus  eyes  lest  any  priest 
or  minister  should  approach  the  future  heir  of  his  titles  and  for- 
tune. He  learned  all  but  what  it  was  essential  to  know,  and  it ' 
would  naturally  be  sxpected  that  a  young  man  of  accomplished 
education  in  the  eyss  of  the  world,  would  seek  only  to  rush 
madly  on  the  paths  of  honors  and  pleasure.  But  all  the  father's 
precautions  could  not  exclude  grace  from  on  high ;  and  Prince 
Gallitzin  thus  recounts  his  astonishing  conversion: 

"  I  lived  during  fifteen  years  in  a  Catholic  country,  under  a 
Catholic  government,  where  both  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
power  were  united  in  the  same  person — the  reigning  prince  in 
that  country  was  our  archbishop.  During  a  great  part  of  that 
time  I  was  not  a  member  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  an  intimacy 
which  existed  between  our  family  and  a  certain  French  philoso- 
pher, had  produced  contempt  for  revealed  religion.  Raised  in 
prejudices  against  revelation,  I  felt  every  disposition  to  ridicule 
those  very  principles  and  practices  which  I  have  adopted  siflce. 
Particular  care,  too,  was  taken  not  to  permit  any  clergyman  to 
come  near  me.  Thanks  be  to  the  God  of  infinite  mercy,  the 
clouds  of  infidelity  were  dispersed,  and  revelation  adopted  in  our 
family.  I  soon  felt  convinced  of  the  necessity  oi  investigating 
the  diflFerent  religious  systems,  in  order  to  find  the  true  one. 
Although  I  was  born  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  al- 

*  Her  life  has  been  written  by  Katerkamp. 


'•v.* 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


281 


though  all  my  male  relations,  without  any  exception,  were  either 
Greeks  or  Protestants,  yet  did  I  resolve  to  embrace  that  religion 
only  which  upon  impartial  inquiry  should  appear  to  me  to  be 
the  'pure  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.  My  choice  fell  upon  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  at  the  age  of  about  seventeen  I  became  a 
member  of  that  Church."* 

This  conversion  did  not  at  first  divert  young  Demetrius  from 
the  military  career  which  his  father  wished  him  to  embrace.  In 
1792  he  was  aid-de-camp  to  the  Austrian  general.  Van  Lilien, 
who  commanded  an  army  in  Brabant,  at  the  opening  of  the  first 
campaign  against  France.  But  the  sudden  detfth  of  the  Emperor 
Leopold,  and  the  assassinatioik  of  the  King  of  Sweden,  an  act 
considered  as  the  work  of  the  Jacobins,  induced  Austria  and 
Prussia  to  dismiss  all  foreigners  from  their  armies.  The  young 
prince  being  thus  deprived  of  his  military  position,  his  father 
advised  him  to  travel  to  finish  his  education,  and  he  arrived  in 
the  United  States  in  1792,  accompanied  by  a  young  German 
missionary,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brosius,  his  tutor.  At  the  sight  of  the 
spiritual  destitution  which  the  Catholics  in  America  suffered,  he 
felt  a  vocation  to  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  on  the  5th  of  No- 
vember, 1792  entered  the  Sulpitian  Seminary  recently  founded  at 
Baltimore.  Under  the  direction  of  those  excellent  professors,  the 
abbes  Nagot,  Garnier,  and  Tessier,  Galiitzin  made  rapid  progress 
in  piety  and  ecclesiastical  learning,  and  on  the  18th  of  March, 
1795,* received  the  priesthood  at  the  hands  of  the  venerable 
Bishop  Carroll. 

He  was  the  second  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  first  who  received  all  orders  in  this  country.     For  the  first 

*  DiBcourse  on  the  life  and  virtues  of  the  Rev.  DemctriuB  Augustine  Gal- 
iitzin. Loretto,  1848.  The  eloquent  author  kindly  sent  us  his  discourse, 
adding  extensive  not«s,  from  which  chiefly  we  have  drawn  the  edifying 
tales  as  to  the  noble  Russian  prince,  become  an  humble  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ.  The  sketch  of  Gidlitzin,  by  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Pise,  D.D.,  has  also  been 
of  great  service.    It  appeared  in  the  Biographical  Annual,  1841. 


282 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Bishop  of  Baltimore  he  ever  preserved  the  most  lively  admiration 
and  most  tender  affection  :  "  The  nearer  we  approach  Archbishop 
Carroll  in  our  pastoral  conduct,"  he  used  to  say,  "  the  nearer  we 
iftpproach  perfection." 

The  young  priest  would  have  preferred  not  to  leave  his  holy 
and  studious  retreat,  the  Seminary  of  Baltimore,  and  with  this 
object  obtained  admission  among  the  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion of  St.  Sulpice.  But  Bishop  Carroll,  though  he  granted  him 
the  necessary  permission,  could  not  dispense  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gallitzin's  services  in  the  labors  of  the  mission,  and  the  latter 
soon  seeing  that  his  new  duties  were .  incomp^ible  with  those  of 
a  Sulpitian,  separated  with  regret  from  a  society  for  which  he 
ever  professed  the  deepest  veneration.  The  first  mission  assigned 
to  him  was  that  of  Conewago,  where  there  existed  already  a 
flourishing  church  under  Father  Pellentz.  From  this  central 
point  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gallitzin  served  towns  and  cities  to  a  consid- 
erable distance  :  Taneytown,  Pipe  Creek,  Hagerstown,  and  Cum- 
berland in  Maryland;  Chambersburg,  Path  and  Shade  Valley, 
Huntington  and  the  Alleghany  mountai  Pennsylvania.     But. 

experience  ere  long  convinced  him  that  .^o  would  realize  more 
good  by  concentrating  his  efforts  on  a  spot  where  he  could 
establish  a  Catholic  colony,  and  he  selected  for  his  domain  the 
uninhabited  and  uncultivated  regions  of  the  Alleghanies,  where  he 
settled  permanently  in  1799.  He  found  in  the  mountains  only  a 
dozen  Catholics  scattered  here  and  there  amid  tie  rocks  and 
woods.  He  first  resided  on  a  farm  which  the  Maguire  family 
had  generously  given  for  the  service  of  the  Church.  There  lie 
built  a  log  chapel,  thirty  feet  long,  which  long  suflBced  for  the 
few  Catholics  of  that  part.  In  order  to  attract  emigration  around 
him  he  bought  vast  tracts  of  land,  which  he  sold  in  farms  at  a 
low  rate,  or  even  gave  to  the  poor,  relying  on  his  patrimony  to 
meet  his  many  engagements.  But  the  Emperor  of  Russia  could 
not  pardon  the  son  of  Prince  Alexander  Gallitzin  for  becoming  a 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


283 


Catholic  priest,  and  in  1808  the  noble  missionary  received  from 
a  friend  in  Europe  a  letter,  saying : 

"  The  question  of  your  rights  and  those  of  the  princess,  your 
sister,  as  to  your  father's  property  in  Russia  has  been  examined 
by  the  Senate  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  it  has  been  decided  that  by 
reason  of  your  Catholic  faith,  and  your  ecclesiastical  profession, 
you  cannot  be  admitted  to  a  share  of  your  late  father's  property. 
Your  sister  is  consequently  sole  heiress  of  the  property,  and  is 
soon  to  be  put  in  possession  of  it.  The  Council  of  State  has  con- 
finned  the  decision  of  the  Senate,  and  the  emperor  by  his  sanc- 
tion has  given  it  force  of  law." 

The  Princess  Anne  Gallitzin,  long  promised  her  brother  to 
restore  him  his  share,  to  which  she  acknowledged  that  she  had  no 
lawfiil  right ;  she  even  sent  on  various  occasions  large  sums  to 
the  missionary,  who  employed  them  in  meeting  his  engagements 
and  in  relieving  the  poor.  But  in  the  whole  it  amounted  to  but 
a  small  part  of  the  revenues  to  which  he  was  entitled,  and  when 
the  princess  married  a  Prince  of  Salm,  she  said  no  more  about 
restituting.  The  missionary  thus  lost  all  his  patrimony,  but 
offered  the  sacrifice  to  God  with  the  most  perfect  resignation  ;  if 
he  regretted  the  wealth,  it  was  only  for  the  poor  and  for  the 
Church,  not  for  himself.  As  his  panegyrist  has  well  said,  "  if  he 
had  had  a  heart  of  gold  he  would  have  given  it  to  the  unfortu- 
nate." The  Rev.  Demetrius  Gallitzin  was  therefore  not  only  the 
zealous  pastor  of  his  flock,  he  was  also  its  father  and  benefactor, 
and  never  consented  to  leave  it.  Imposing  on  himself  a  thou- 
sand austerities,  lodged  in  an  humble  cabin,  dressed  in  coarse 
clothes,  incessantly  travelling  from  point  to  point  to  bear  the 
consolations  of  religion  through  the  mountains.  Father  Gallitzin 
found  time  also  to  study,  and  successively  composed  several  con- 
troversial works ;  "  Defence  of  Catholic  Principles,"  a  "  Letter  to 
a  Protestant  Friend,"  and  an  "  Appeal  to  the  Protestant  Public," 
in  replj  to  a  Protestant  minister  of  Huntington,  who  had  pas- 


284 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sionately  assailed  him  in  his  pulpit.  These  little  works,  of  great 
dialectic  skill,  continue  to  be  printed  and  circulated  in  America, 
and  have  been  frequently  reprinted  in  England,  Ireland,  every- 
where producing  great  good,  in  converting  Protestants  or  con- 
firming Catholics  in  the  faith. 

Amid  these  apostolic  labors,  and  just  after  excessive  fatigue  in 
hearing  confessions  and  ofiiciating  through  Holy  Week,  the  ven- 
erable Mr.  Gallitzin  died,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1840,  in  Loretto,  a 
village  which  he  had  founded  in  the  mountains.  His  friend, 
the  Very  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden,  whom  we  have  seen  refusing  the 
See  of  Natchez  in  1837,  received  the  lait  sigh  of  the  Pastor  of 
the  Alleghanies,  and  in  the  month  of  September,  184*7,  he  pro- 
nounced a  funeral  oration  in  St.  Michael's  Church,  at  the  transla- 
tion of  the  body  of  the  sainted  Prince  Gallitzin  under  the  beauti- 
ful monument  which  the  piety  of  his  parishioners  had  raised  to 
his  memory.* 

The  renown  of  Prince  Gallitzin's  virtues  and  of  the  wonders 
he  achieved,  spread  far  and  wide,  and  he  was  several  times  spoken 
of  for  the  Episcopacy.  In  the  life  of  Bishop  Flaget,  we  see  that 
in  1825  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a  See  at  Pittsburg,  and  Bishop 
Dubourg  wrote  to  Bishop  Rosati  on  the  28th  of  November: 
"Should  you  judge  it  opportune  to  ask  the  erection  of  a  See  at 
Pittsburg,  embracing  the  territory  bordering  on  the  Alleghany 
and  a  portion  of  Virginia,  I  will  unite  with  you.  *  *  *  I 
would  propose  Prince  Gallitzin  as  first  on  the  list,  and  Mr. 
Maguire  as  second.  I  think  the  first  place  due  to  the  former,  in 
consequence  of  his  long  and  useful  service,  and  for  the  good  he 
has  effected  in  those  quarters,  and  because  he  has  already  a  large 
establishment,  which  would  be  very  useful  to  the  new  bishopric"! 

On  his  side.  Bishop  Kenrick,  then  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia, 


*  Spalding's  (Bp.)  sketches  of  the  Life,  Times,  and  Character  of  the  Right 
Rev.  Benedict  J.  Flaget,  p.  250. 


+  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii. 


IN  THE  UNITED    STATES. 


285 


anJ  as  such  happy  enough  to  count  Prince  Gallitzin  among  his 
priests,  wrote  of  him  on  the  14th  of  January,  1834  :  "  Loretto, 
in  Cambria  county,  is  the  residence  of  the  celebrated  missionaiy, 
Prince  Gallitzin,  and  a  very  numerous  population.  It  is  more 
L  i  than  thirty  years  since  that  venerable  man  chose  the  summit  of 
the  Alleghanies  as  his  retreat,  or  rather  as  the  centre  of  his  mis- 
sion ;  thence  he  went  from  time  to  time,  to  bear  the  succors  of 
religion  to  the  Catholics  scattered  over  an  immense  territory, 
where  five  priests  are  now  occupied.  The  number  of  the  faithful 
at  his  arrival  was  very  trifling  in  Cambria  county ;  his  persever- 
ance, in  spite  of  all  the  di£Sculties  with  which  he  l)ad  to  contend, 
was  crowned  with  heavenly  benedictions.  The  mountains  have 
become  fertile  and  the  forests  flourishing.  Many  Protestants  have 
followed  his  example,  renouncing  the  errors  of  the  sects  in  which 
they  had  been  brought  up ;  and  Catholics  came  from  all  sides  to 
commit  themselves  to  the  paternal  care  of  a  priest  whose  pure 
and  humble  life  excites  them  to  the  exercise  of  the  evangelical 
virtues."* 

The  Catholics  of  Cambria  still  keep  fresh  the  memory  of  their 
princely  missionary,  and  have  given  the  name  of  Gallitzin  to  a 
village  which  has  already  a  church,  dedicated  to  St.  Patrick. 
They  are  particularly  distinguished  by  their  faith  and  patriarchal 
manners ;  and  gave  a  striking  proof  lately  in  the  triumphal  pro- 
cession with  which  they  welcomed  Monseigneur  Bedini,  the  Apos- 
tolic Nuncio.    In  a  letter  which  his  Excellency  addressed  to  us 


*  The  Gallitzin  family  has  also  had  a  martyr  to  the  Faith.  According  to 
a  family  tradition,  as  stated  by  Madame  Gallitzin  to  Bishop  O'Connor,  one  of 
their  ancestors  became  a  Catholic  in  the  time  of  Catharine  II.,  and  was  put  to 
death  in  punishment  for  his  change  of  faith,  by  being  required  to  have  a 
palace  of  ice  built  on  vlie  Neva,  and  to  go  through  the  form  of  marrying  an 
old  woman.  The  whole  thing  passed  as  a  joke,  but  the  prince  was  taken  to 
the  bridal  chamber,  where  the  bride  of  the  play,  aided  by  satellites,  held  him 
on  a  bed  of  ice  till  he  expired.  The  matter  was  then  hushed  up  as  a  joke, 
but  it  was  known  to  have  been  the  design  of  the  empress  to  take  him  off, 
yet  deprive  him  of  the  honor  of  martyrdom. 


286 


THB  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


from  Cincinnati,  on  the  29th  of  September,  1863,  is  the  following 
passage :  "  The  papers  will  keep  you  but  imperfectly  informed  of 
my  progress,  and,  especially,  you  can  form  no  idea  of  my  visit  to 
Loretto,  which  presented  the  most  touching  spectacle.  This  vil- 
lage, sanctified  by  the  Apostolate  of  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin, 
is  situated  in  the  highest  mountains  of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  in- 
habited exclusively  by  Catholics.  My  carriage  was  preceded  by 
about  five  hundred  persons,  on  horseback,  men  and  women,  and 
followed  by  some  fifty  carriages.  This  peaceful  cortege,  defiling 
joyously  aroimd  these  lofty  mountains,  beneath  a  still  brilliant 
sun,  was  as  solemn  as  touching  for  us  all.  The  fact  is,  that 
everywhere,  and  especially  at  Loretto,  the  joy  of  the  Catholics 
was  unbounded,  and  was  displayed  in  the  liveliest  and  most  edi- 
fying manner.  The  demonstration  could  not  have  been  more 
beautiful  or  more  brilliant,  and  reminded  me  of  the  welcome  I 
received  in  Canada." 

The  father  of  our  holy  missionary  died  at  Brunswick  in  1803, 
still  unreconciled  to  the  idea  of  having  his  son  a  priest,  and  his 
wife  a  pious  Catholic,  while  he  was  a  disciple  of  Diderot.  He 
embittered  the  last  days  of  the  princess  by  reproaching  her  with 
causing  her  son's  conversion.  She  bore  all  with  Christian  pa- 
tience, and  expired  in  1806,  fortified  with  all  the  consolations  of 
the  dying.  Her  example,  and  that  of  her  son,  doubtless  exer- 
cised a  salutary  infiuence  on  the  family.  One  of  their  nephews, 
the  young  Prince  Alexander  Gallitzin,  openly  became  a  Catholic 
at  St.  Petersburg,  in  1814,  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  He  was  then  a 
pupil  of  the  Jesuits,  and  this  conversion  excited  so  much  attention 
in  Russia,  and  so  irritated  his  uncle,  then  Minister  of  Worship  to 
the  emperor,  that  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  immediately  banished 
from  Russia.  Another  aunt  of  young  Alexander  became  a 
Catholic  in  Russia,  under  Father  Ronsin,  and  her  daughter, 
Princess  Elizabeth  Gallitzin,  having  herself  abjured  the  Greek 
Bchisni,  entered  the  community  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  at  Paris. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


287 


After  a  stay  at  Rome,  she  was  sent  to  the  United  States  in  1840, 
where  she  founded  four  houses  of  her  order,  and  died  of  the  yel- 
low fever  in  Louisiana,  at  the  age  of  47,  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1843. 

These  illustrious  examples  of  return  to  unity,  are  not  the  only 
ones  which  the  Russian  nobility  have  given  within  the  last  sixty 
years.  Many  families  have  embraced  Catholicity,  and  form  a 
society  no  less  agreeable  than  distinguished  at  Rome  and  Paris, 
the  intolerance  of  the  Czar  forcing  them  into  exile  to  enjoy  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion.  These  conversions  would  be  far 
more  numerous,  but  for  the  cruel  persecutions^  exercised  by  the 
Greek  schism.  The  wounded  Russians  in  the  Crimea  gladly 
confessed  to  the  French  chaplains,  and  the  prisoners  of  Bomar- 
sund  communicate  at  the  hands  of  Polish  missionaries  sent  to 
evangelize  them.  These  poor  people  are  full  of  faith;  they 
know  nothing  of  the  subtleties  of  Photius,  and  would  cheerfully 
return  to  the  true  faith,  if  ambition,  pride,  and  policy  did  not 
keep  the  Muscovite  princes  out  of  the  Divine  Unity  of  the  Church. 

The  life  of  Prince  Demetrius  Gallitzin  is  little  known  in 
Europe,  or  even  in  America,  and  in  hopes  of  soon  seeing  an 
extended  memoir,  we  have  dwelt  at  some  'in^th  on  the  history 
of  the  Pastor  of  the  Alleghanies.  It  was  in  tie  design  of  Provi- 
dence that  all  nations  of  Europe  should  furnish  their  contingent 
of  missionaries  to  the  United  States,  and  Russia  has  given  two 
scions  of  one  of  her  most  ancient  families,  to  preach  the  Gospel 
and  expound  the  Catechism  to  the  republicans  of  the  New 
World,  and  the  tawny  denizens  of  their  Western  prairies. 


288 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sri    \  'i       \     , 


V 


CHAPTER    XIX. 


.    DIOCESE    OF   PITTSBURG DIOCESE    OF   ERIE — (1792-1868). 

The  Abb6  Flaget  at  PIttsbarg— The  Bev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  and  Charles  B.  Magulre— The 
Poor  Glares— The  Colony  of  Asylum— The  Chevalier  John  Keating— Colony  of  Har« 
man  Bottom— Episcopate  o>  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  O'Connor— Sisters  of  Mercy— The 
Brothers  of  the  Presentation— The  Franciscan  Brothers— The  Benedictines— Passioa- 
lst»— Early  missions  at  Erie— Bishop  Flaget — The  present  state  of  the  diocese— The 
Benedictine  Nuns— Retrospect. 


We  have  seen  that  the  Recollects  of  France  were  the  first 
priests  who,  a  century  since,  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the  fort 
around  which  the  vast  city  of  Pittsburg  has  gathered.  After 
them,  too,  a  French  priest  is  the  first  whom  we  find  exercising 
the  ministry  pt  Pittsburg.  In  the  month  of  May,  1792,  the 
Abb6  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  the  future  Bishop  of  Bardstown 
and  Louisville,  journeying  from  Baltimore  to  Vincennes,  the  sta- 
tion which  Bishop  Carroll  had  assigned  him,  was  forced  to  wait 
six  months  at  Pittsburg,  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  being  so  low  as 
to  render  navigation  impossible.  During  this  forced  stay,  the 
young  missionary  was  not  idle.  He  resided  with  a  descendant 
of  French  Huguenots,  who  had  married  an  American  Protestant 
lady,  but  who  both  received  the  Abb6  Flaget  very  cordially. 
The  latter  said  Mass  daily  in  their  house ;  and  then  devoted  him- 
self to  the  religious  instruction  of  some  French  or  Canadian  set- 
tlers and  the  Catholic  soldiers.  Fort  Pitt,  in  Pittsburg,  was  then 
the  head-quarters  of  General  Wayne,  about  to  lead  his  famous 
expedition  against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest.  The  general 
cordially  welcomed  Mr.  Flaget,  who  presented  him  a  letter  of  in- 
troduction from  Bishop  Carroll,  and  the  young  priest  endeared 


IN   THE    UNITED   STATES. 


289 


2-1868). 

1.  Magulre— The 
■Colony  of  Har- 
of  Mercy— The 
ct\ne9-Pa98«oo- 
,he  diocese— The 


cre  the  first 
ee  in  the  fort 
lered.    After 
id  exevcising 
y,  1792,  the 
of  Bardstown 
(nnes,  the  sta- 
'orced  to  wait 
Bing  so  low  as 
rced  stay,  the 

a  descendant 
can  Protestant 
very  cordially. 

devoted  him- 

Canadian  set- 
burg,  was  then 
^ad  his  famous 
The  general 
a  letter  of  in- 

►riest  endeared 


himself  to  all  by  his  chantuble  cure  of  the  ganison  dunng  the 
ravages  caused  by  the  small-pox  among  the  troops.  In  another 
circumstance,  too,  he  displayed  a  truly  apostolic  zeal,  when  four 
deserters  who  had  been  retaken  were  condemned  to  death  by 
court-martial.  Two  of  these  soldiers  were  Catholics,  another  a 
Protestant,  the  fourth  a  French  infidel.  Mr.  Flaget  visited  them 
in  prison,  and  though  he  spoke  but  little  English,  he  had  the 
consolation  of  converting  the  Protestant,  and  administering  the 
sacraments  to  the  two  Catholics.  As  to  the  Frenchman,  he  ob- 
stinately refused  all  the  succors  of  religion  ;  and  the  grief  which 
the  missionary  expressed  at  the  thought  of  the  impenitence  of  his 
countryman,  induced  General  Wayne  to  grant 'liira  the  pardon  of 
the  culprit.* 

In  1796,  Butler  county,  lying  north  of  Pittsburg,  was  declared 
by  government  open  to  colonization ;  and  Irish  Catholics  from 
Youngstown  immediately  began  to  settle  there,  and  others  swelled 
the  population  of  Pittsburg.  A  mission  was  founded  at  Sugar 
Creek,  and  was  attended,  it  is  believed,  by  Father  C.  Whelan. 
In  the  first  years  of  this  century,  the  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  had  the 
centre  of  this  mission,  at  Brownsville,  forty  miles  south  of  Pitts- 
burg, which  latter  city  he  visited  every  month,  to  say  Mass  for 
the  few  Catholics  who  gathered  around  him  in  a  private  room. 
About  1807,  however,  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien  made  Pittsburg  his 
residence,  and  m  ihe  following  year  erected  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
so  apparently  large  for  the  wants  of  the  faithful,  that  he  was  long 
annoyed  with  reproaches  of  extravagance.  Yet  it  was  only  fore- 
sight ;  and  since  then,  although  additions  have  nearly  doubled 
the  church  in  size,  it  is  not,f  with  the  eleven  other  churches  or 
chapels  that  rise  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  sufficient  for  the 


*  Bishop  Spalding.    Life,  &c.,  of  Bishop  Flaget,  p.  80. 

+  The  present  St.  Patrick's  is  not  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  which  was 
burnt  in  1854,  as  the  place  had  become  unfit  for  a  ohuroh  from  the  railroads 
concentrating  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

18 


290 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Catholic  population  of  the  episcopal  See  of  Pittsburg.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  O'Brien  zealously  discharged  the  functions  of  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's  till  March,  1820.  At  that  epoch  he  retired  to  Mary- 
land, his  native  State,  and,  except  a  short  stay  at  Conewago, 
never  left,  and  died  some  years  after,  it  would  seem,  at  An- 
napolis. 

The  Rev.  F.  X.  O'Brien  was  succeeded  at  Pittsburg  by  Father 
Charles  B.  Maguire,  an  Irish  Franciscan,  who  had  studied  at 
St.  Isidore's  Convent,  Rome.  He  was  even  a  professor  there, 
when  the  French  invasion  compelled  him  to  retire  to  Germany, 
where  he  received  from  the  royal  family  of  Bourbon,  then  exiled 
from  France,  many  favors  and  marks  of  respect.  He  came  to 
the  United  States  about  1812,  and  the  mission  of  Westmoreland 
county,  comprising  Latrobe  and  Youngstown,  was  first  assigned 
to  him.  There  Father  Brouwer  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  1789 ; 
and  this  cradle  of  Catholicity  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg  has 
become,  since  1846,  the  cradle  of  the  Benedictine  Order  in  the 
United  States.  Father  Maguire,  who  baptized  most  of  the  Cath- 
olics of  this  generation  at  Pittsburg,  was  full  of  ambition  for 
God's  glory.  St.  Patrick's  Church,  even  with  its  additions,  did 
not  seem,  in  his  eyes,  large  enough  for  the  present  and  future  of 
his  congregation.  On  a  hill  in  Grand-street  he  resolved  to  build 
a  cathedral,  long  before  there  was  any  mention  of  having  a  bish* 
op  at  Pittsburg ;  and  he  undertook,  with  rare  energy,  the  con- 
struction of  St.  Paul's  Church.  Yet  he  did  not  live  to  see  it 
consecrated.  This  took  place  in  1834,  and  in  July  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  Father  Maguire  had  died  at  Pittsburg.  The  Rev. 
John  O'Reilly,  who  had  been  Father  Maguire's  assistant  from 
1831,  succeeded  him  in  his  pastoral  charge,  and  was  replaced  in 
1844  by  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor,  now  Bishop  of  Pittsburg. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  the  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia, 
wrote,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1834  : 

"  Pittsburg,  a  considerable  city,  at  the  other  extremity  of  Penn- 


heRer. 

X  of  St. 
a  Mary- 
(newago, 
,  at  An- 

,y  Father 
budied  at 
jor  there, 
Germany, 
aen  exiled 
>  came  U> 
itmoreland 
it  assigned 
e  in  1789; 
tsburg  has 
rder  in  the 
if  the  Cath- 
mbition  for 
ditions,  did 
ad  future  of 
red  to  build 
ving  a  bish- 
^y,  the  con- 
ve  to  see  it 
of  the  pre- 
The  Rev. 
sistant  from 
,  replaced  in 
Pittsburg. 
Philadelphia, 

lity  of  Penn- 


IN  THE   UBTITBD  STATES. 


291 


Bylvania,  amid  a  population  of  twenty  thousand  souls,  contains, 
according  to  a  moderate    computation,  four  or  five  thousand 
Catholics.     Thus  far,  we  have  had  only  one  church  there,  St. 
Patrick's ;  but  we  hope  soon  to  have  another,  St.  Paul's,  a  vast 
edifice,  far  advanced,  and  of  magnificent  construction.    It  is  now 
five  years  since  this  new  church  was  begun ;  but  want  of  pecu- 
niary resources  has  retarded  its  completion.    The  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's,  Mr.  John  O'Reilly,  who  has  already  built  three  churches 
at  Newry,  Huntington,  and  Bellefonte,  is  now  using  every  eflbrt 
to  complete  St.  Patrick's  at  Pittsburg.    The  Abb6  Masquelet,  an 
Alsacian,  aids  him  in  the  functions  of  the  holy  ministry,  princi- 
pally by  taking  the  charge  of  the  German8,»who  are  very  nume- 
rous, and  of  some  French  who  reside  there.    Near  '"'ittsburg,  the 
Poor  Clares  have  a  convent,  containing  fourteen  religious,  under 
the  spiritual  direction  of  Father  Van  de  Wejer,  a  Belgian  re- 
ligious of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic* 

This  monastery,  which  was  the  first  established  religious  com- 
munity in  that  part  of  Pennsylvania,  had  been  founded  about 
1828  at  Alleghenytown,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pittsburg.  Sister 
Frances  Van  de  Vogel,  belonging  to  a  wealthy  Flemish  family, 
arrived  from  Belgium  in  Pennsylvania  with  one  of  her  compan- 
ions, and  purchased  with  her  own  means  tlip  property  on  which 
the  convent  was  built.  Father  Maguire  took  a  great  interest  in 
this  foundation,  and  encouraged  it  by  his  influence  and  counsels. 
About  1830,  the  Poor  Clares  established  another  house  at  Green 
Bay,  in  the  present  State  of  Wisconsin ;  but  neither  house  ac- 
quired stability,  and  after  difficulties  of  jurisdiction  with  Dr. 
R6s6,  Bishop  of  Detroit,  Madame  Van  de  Vogel,  who  claimed  to  be 
sole  Superior  of  the  Order,  became  discouraged,  and  sold  the 


*  Annalea  ^e  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  215.  The  Kev.  Fran<;ois 
Masquelot  removed  in  1817  to  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  and  was  stationed 
•t  St.  Martin's,  near  Fayetteville.  His  name  does  not  appear  after  1840,  nor 
Father  Van  de  Wojor's  after  1835. 


3 

■1 
!  i   ' 


ij 


If 


1 


292 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


property  in  both  places.  Some  of  the  religious  returned  to  Bel- 
gium, others  entered  various  communities,  and  Madame  Van  de 
Vogel  retired  to  Rome.  Thus,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Clare  failed  in 
Pennsylvania  and  in  Wisconsin,  as  they  had  failed  in  George- 
town in  the  last  century ;  and  the  Almighty  refused  them  that 
vitality,  with  which  so  many  other  communities  in  the  United 
States  show  themselves  to  have  been  gifted. 

In  the  letter  already  cited.  Bishop  Kenrick  gives  other  inter- 
esting details  as  to  the  religious  state  of  Catholics  in  Western 
Pennsylvania.  "  On  my  visit  to  St.  Peter's,  Brownsville,  a  little 
village  on  the  Monongahela  river,  I  was  much  edified  at  the  joy 
with  which  a  pious  French  widow^,  residing  in  the  neighborhood, 
came,  with  her  children,  to  approach  the  sacraments,  which  she 
had  been  debarred  from  for  years,  in  consequence  of  not  meeting 
a  priest  who  understood  her  language.  The  faithful  of  this  mis- 
sion are  to  be  pitied,  being  able  only  four  times  a  year  to  enjoy 
the  presence  of  a  priest,  the  pastor  of  Blairsville,  Rev.  James 
Ambrose  Stillmger,  a  young  American  priest,  who  visits  them 
thus  till  I  can  place  a  pastor  here.*  The  French  families  in 
Potter  county  have  not  even  this  consolation,  for  it  is  only  at 
rare  intervals  that  the  pastor  of  All  Saints,  Lewistown,  who  has 
charge  of  this  mission,  and  those  of  Clearfield  and  Bellefonte,f 
can  take  the  long  journey  necessary  to  visit  them.  He  travels 
sixty  miles  every  month  to  go  to  Clearfield,  where  there  are  many 
French ;  but  those  in  Potter  county  are  still  farther  oflf." 

This  French  immigration,  to  the  importance  of  which,  in 
Pennsylvania,  Bishop  Kenrick,  in  several  instances,  alludes,  took 
place  at  diflFerent  epochs ;  but  the  principal  attempts  at  coloni- 
zation were  induced  by  the  Reign  of  Terror,  which  drove  from 
France  its  noblest  and  best  families.     On  perusing  the  travels  of 


*  He  is  still  pastor  of  Blairsvillo. 

t  These  are  still  in  thf  iliocesc  ot"  Pliiladelphia. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


293 


Bel- 
in  de 
3d  in 
sorge- 
ithat 
Jnited 

inter- 
'estern 
a  little 
he  joy 
3rhood, 
ich  she 
neeting 
his  mis- 
o  enjoy 
.  James 
ts  them 

lilies  in 

only  at 
Ivho  has 
|lefonte,t 
travels 

ire  many 

Ihich,  in 

les,  took 

lit  coloni- 

)ve  from 

Iravels  of 


the  Duke  of  Larochefoucauld-Liancourt,  in  the  interior  of  the 
United  States,  in  1795,  1796,  and  1797,*  we  are  surprised  at 
the  number  of  French  whom  he  finds  at  every  step,  even  to  the 
very  backwoods,  then  inhabited  by  the  Indians.  In  another 
portion  of  this  history,  we  have  shown  how  the  descendants  of 
the  French  now  form  one  of  the  elements  of  the  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  the  United  States.  Still,  many  families,  cut  off  from 
all  religious  aid,  unhappily  saw  the  faith  expire  in  their  children; 
and  what  is  more  sad,  other  families,  placed  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous positions,  made  no  effort  to  secure  their  offspring  from 
Protestantism.  In  1794,  thirty  families  of 'French  officers  and 
nobility  founded  the  Colony  of  Asylum,  near  Towanda,  in  Brad- 
ford county.  Some  came  from  Paris,  others  from  St.  Domingo, 
and  a  number  of  mechanics  and  negroes  followed  them  to  their 
new  abode.  They  were  also  attended  by  several  priests — the 
Abbe  de  Bec-de-Lievre,  formerly  a  canon  in  Brittany ;  the  Abb6 
Carles,  canon  of  Quercy ;  the  Abbe  de  Sevigny,  Archdeacon  of 
Toul ;  and  the  Abbe  Fromentin,  of  Etampe?^.  Mr,  Nores,  a  grad- 
uate of  the  Holy  Chapel,  and  possessor  of  a  small  priory,  al- 
though not  in  orders,  was  another  of  the  party.  But  these 
ecclesiastics  were  not  of  the  stamp  of  the  virtuous  Sulpitians, 
who  at  the  same  time  offered  thedr  services  to  Bishop  Carroll, 
and  hastened  to  preach  the  Gospel  wherever  that  prelate  sent 
them,  whether  to  Boston,  Vincennes,  Kentucky,  or  other  parts  of 
bis  vast  diocese.  The  Abbes  of  Asylum  never  asked  the  bishop 
for  faculties  to  exercise  the  ministry  in  America ;  and  thinking 
only  of  the  goods  of  this  world,  became  grocers  or  farmers.  In 
a  spot  which  contained  four  priests,  Mass  was  never  offered. 
They  never  even  thought  of  arranging  a  place  for  a  chapel, 
where  the  settlers  might  meet  morning  and  evening,  to  raise  up 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  213.  Voyage  dans  les  Etats- 
Unis  d' Amerique  fait  en  1795, 1796,  et  1797,  par  La  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. 
Paris,  An.  vii. 


294 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


their  hearts  to  God.  No  worship  was  practised  among  these 
brilliant  officers,  their  companions  and  children ;  and  this  shows 
how  far  the  philosophy  of  Voltaire  had  spread  its  ravages  in  the 
hearts  of  families,  and  even  in  the  spnctuary.  As  soon  as  the 
nobles  and  clergy  could  return  to  France,  the  more  influential  of 
the  colonists  of  Asylum  hastened  to  leave  America.  There  re- 
mained in  Bradford  county  only  the  farmers  and  mechanics ; 
and  among  the  descendants  of  these  at  the  present  day,  there  is 
not  a  single  Catholic — a  fatal  example  of  the  lot  which  awaits 
the  settlers  who  are  remote  from  true  pastors,  and  absorbed  in 
the  interests  of  the  present  life. 

Yet  we  are  deceived :  the  Colony  of  Asylum  had  one  priest 
who  soon  awoke  to  a  feeling  of  the  awful  character  with  which 
he  was  invested.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Carles  proceeded  to  Savannah, 
and  devoting  himself  to  the  ministry,  labored  among  the  Catho- 
lics of  Georgia  till  after  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons,  when 
he  returned  to  France,  and  be  "  mq  Vicar-general  of  Bordeaux, 
under  Cardinal  Cheverus,  whom  he  preceded  a  few  days  to  the 
tomb,  and  whose  death  materially  hastened  that  of  the  saintly 
archbishop.* 

The  Colony  of  Asylum  also  endowed  Pennsylvania  with  an 
excellent  Catholic  family,  whose  virtue  has  been  honorably  per- 
petuated ;  and  an  account  of  the  patriarch  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 

*  As  to  Dr.  Carles,  see  Bishop  England's  Works,  iii.  252-4,  Hamon;  Life 
^f  Cardinal  Cheverus  (translated  by  Walsh),  p.  199,  where  he  is  styled  a 
most  venerable  and  exemplary  priest,  whom  the  cardinal  had  brought  with 
him  from  Montauban.  Dr.  Carles  fell  dead  as  he  was  leaving  the  altar  after 
High  Mass,  on  Easter  Sunday,  1834.  Two  more  of  the  priests  at  the  Asy- 
lum returned  to  France  ;  but  one  of  them,  Mr.  Fromentin,  remained,  mar- 
ried, and  removing  to  Louisiana,  became  Clerk  of  the  Legislature.  As  such, 
he  was  a  leader  in  the  dispute  with  General  Jackson,  which  led  to  the  closing 
of  the  sessions  of  that  body.  He  died  of  yellow  fever,  which  he  had  braved. 
The  principal  families  at  Asylum,  in  1795,  were  Messrs.  Do  Noailles,  De 
Blacon,  De  Montul^,  D'Andelot,  De  Beaulieu,  De  la  Koue,  De  Vilaine,  Mes- 
dames  D' Antrepont,  De  Sybert,  Do  Maulde,  De  Bercy.  Du  Petit  Thouars,  the 
future  hero  of  the  Tonnaut  at  Aboukir,  was  also  at  Asylum  in  1795. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


295 


Philadelphia,  deserves  a  place  from  our  pen.  John  Keating, 
born  in  Ireland,  on  the  19th  of  September,  1759,  is  the  grand- 
son of  Jeffrey  Keating,  who  raised  a  company  of  horse,  during 
the  siege  of  Limerick,  and  having  subsequently  retired  to  France 
with  King  James's  army,  distinguished  himself  in  Spain  and 
Italy,  under  Marshal  Catinat.  Valentine,  Baron  Keating,  the  son 
of  Jeffrey,  obtained  permission  to  return  to  Ireland,  but  finding 
the  penal  laws  intolerable,  went  back  to  France,  and  had  his 
children  educated  at  the  Jesuit  college,  Poitiers.  John  Keating 
and  his  three  brothers  entered  as  oflScers  in  the  Irish  regiment 
of  Walsh-Serrant,  in  the  French  service.  At  the  period  of  our 
revolution,  this  regiment  was  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  then  to 
Pondi cherry  and  Mauritius;  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
French  revolution,  was  in  St.  Domingo.  "There,"  says  the 
Duke  de  la  Rochefoucauld-Liancourt,  "  John  Keating,  having  the 
confidence  of  all  parties,  and  having  refused  the  most  seductive 
offers  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Convention,  preferred  to  re- 
tire poor  to  America,  rather  than  remain  rich  and  in  honor  at 
St.  Domingo,  by  violating  his  first  oath.  A  man  of  a  character 
at  once  severe  and  mild,  of  distinguished  merit,  rare  intelligence, 
uncommon  virtue,  and  unexampled  disinterestedness,  *  *  * 
we  may  say  that  the  confidence  which  his  great  intelligence  and 
virtue  inspire,  make  it  more  easy  for  him  than  for  others  to  ter- 
minate a  difficult  affair."* 

Captain  John  Keating,  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis,  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  organizers  of  Asylum ;  but  when  his  friends  returned 
to  France  he  retired  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  has  since  edified 
whole  generations  by  his  piety  and  virtues.  Although  more  than 
ninety-six  years  of  age,  he  continues  to  occupy  every  Sunday  his 
wonted  place  in  St.  Mary's,  and  enjoys  universal  esteem  through- 
out the  city.     His  daughter,  left  a  widow,  resolved  to  enter  a 


*  Voyage  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  i.  159. 
p.  187. 


See  Irish  at  Home  and  Abroad, 


296 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


convent  as  soon  as  her  children  were  old  enough  to  take  charge 
of  their  grandfather,  and  she  is  now  Superioress  of  the  Visitation 
at  Frederick. 

If  the  Asylum  gave  "in  general  results  so  afflicting  to  religion, 
it  is  consoling  to  see  other  colonies  flourishing  under  quite  differ- 
ent conditions.  In  1832,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden  proposed  to 
Mr.  Ridelmoser,  a  wealthy  German  Catholic  in  Baltimore,  to 
draw  Catholics  to  his  lands,  on  condition  that  a  church  should  be 
built  and  the  ground  reserved  for  Catholic  settlers.  Mr.  Ridel- 
moser, who  possessed  extensive  tracts  in  Bedford  county,  imme- 
diately built  a  church  at  Herman  Bottom,  furnished  it  with 
vestments  and  plate,  built  a  rectory,  reserved  a  hundred  acres  of 
excellent  land  for  the  support  of  a  pastor,  and  allotted  sixty  more 
for  the  support  of  a  school.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Heyden,  on  his  side, 
induced  Catholic  families  to  come  and  settle  at  Herman  Bottom. 
The  church  was  consecrated  on  the  1st  of  January,  1826;  one 
hundred  and  fifty  families  were  installed  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  assure  their  children  the  competence  which  agriculture  gives 
in  America,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they  bring  them  up  in  the 
faith  of  their  fathers  and  the  practice  of  religion.  It  was  the 
success  of  the  scheme  of  Prince  Gallitzin  which  induced  Dr. 
Heyden  to  attempt  an  enterprise  of  a  similar  character  in  Bedford 
county,  and  we  see  that  he  succeeded  as  his  venerable  friend  had 
done  at  Loretto. 

We  have  said  that  Bishop  Kenrick  in  1834  noted  the  existence 
of  a  large  German  population  at  Pittsburg.  To  take  care  of  the 
Catholics  of  that  nation,  some  Redemptorist  Fathers  arrived  at 
Pittsburg  in  1839,  and  immediately  began  the  erection  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Philomena.  Two  years  previous,  Tv^ur  Sisters  of 
Charity  from  Emmetsburg  opened  a  school  at  Pittsburg,  and 
soon  took  charge  of  an  orphan  asylum.*    But  it  is  chiefly  since 

*  They  retired  in  1845  from  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg,  and  the  Sisters  of 
Mercy  have  Buccoedcd  them  at  St.  Paul's  Asylum. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


297 


large 
ation 

igion, 

iifFer- 

3ed  to 

•re,  to 

aid  be 

Ridel- 

imme- 

t  with 

cjres  of 

y  more 

is  side, 

3ottom. 

6;  one 

prhood, 

:e  gives 

in  the 

was  the 

•,ed  Dr. 

Bedford 

md  had 

xistence 

of  the 

ived  at 

of  the 

isters  of 

rg,  and 

iy  since 

Sistera  of 


1843,  when  Dr.  O'Connor,  instead  of  being  pastor,  became  Bishop 
of  Pittsburg,  that,  under  the  influence  of  his  zeal,  the  new  diocese 
saw  churches,  convents,  and  monasteries  rise  on  all  sides,  so  that 
it  is  now  one  of  the  best  endowed  in  the  United  States  in  the  re- 
sources of  its  clergy  and  the  number  of  its  religious  communities. 
When  Bishop  O'Connor  was  returning  from  Rome  after  his  conse- 
cration, he  passed  through  Ireland,  and  induced  a  colony  of  Sisters 
of  Mercy  to  come  to  Pittsburg.  This  was  the  first  foundation  of 
this  venerable  Order  in  the  United  States;  but  since  1843  it  has 
struck  such  deep  roots,  that  in  1855  there  are  not  less  than 
eighty-four  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the  dioces^  of  Pittsburg  alone. 
They  have  under  their  direction  the  Mercy  Hospital  in  the  epis- 
copal city,  a  House  of  Industry  at  Alleghany,  four  boarding' 
schools  at  Latrobe,  Loretto,  Hollidaysburg,  and  Pittsburg,  two 
orphan  asylums,  and  several  free-schools,  frequented  by  hundreds 
of  pupils.  Moreover,  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  of  Pittsburg  have  sent 
colonies  to  three  othei"  dioceses  in  the  United  States — to  Chicago 
in  1846,  Providence  in  1851,  and  Baltimore  in  1855.  The  dio- 
cese of  Chicago  contains  already  forty-six  Sisters  of  this  Order, 
comprising  thirty-one  professed.  A  still  larger  number  is  found 
in  the  diocese  of  Hartford,  and  there  are  novitiates  in  both  as 
well  as  in  Baltimore. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  have  in  view 
all  the  spiritual,  and  even  all  the  corporal  works  of  mercy,  but 
more  especially  the  instruction  of  poor  girls,  the  visit  of  the  sick 
and  dying  poor,  and  of  prisoners,  and  the  protection  of  decent 
girls  in  distress.  To  attain  this  last  object,  they  open  Houses  of 
Industry,  where  girls  out  of  work  or  place  find  labor  and  a  shel- 
ter. The  Sisters  endeavor  to  place  them  as  servants  or  hands  in 
good  houses,  and  as  families  rely  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
Sisters,  they  apply  at  the  convent  in  preference  to  venal  intelli- 
gence offices.  During  the  short  period  that  the  Sisters  keep 
their  protegees  their  religious  instruction  is  not  neglected,  and  in 

13*- 


\M.. 


I 


298 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


every  city  where  such  a  house  exists,  it  has  produced  incalculablo 
good  in  preserving  young  girls  from  the  seductions  of  heresy  and 
vice.  The  Sisters  of  Mercy  visit  the  prisons,  attend  those  con- 
demned to  death,  and  justly  consider  themselves  combining  in 
happy  proportions  the  life  of  Martha  with  that  of  Mary.  "  The 
offices  of  the  choir,  as  the  other  duties  of  the  contemplative  life, 
take  up  several  hours  of  the  day ;  and  these  assure  each  of  the 
Sisters  the  particular  and  distinct  grace  which  is  accorded  to  the 
life  of  activity  and  contemplation,  animating  her  amid  her  painful 
occupations  by  the  anticipated  sounds  of  that  voice  which  says : 
'  Come,  ye  well  beloved  of  my  Father,  *  *  *  *  whatever 
you  have  done  for  one  of  my  least  brethren  you  have  done  for 


>  MJIfc 


me. 

This  institute  arose  at  Dublin,  in  1829,  and  its  foundress  is 
Mrs.  Catharine  McAuley,  born  on  the  lYth  of  September,  1778, 
in  a  castle  near  Dublin.  Belonging  to  a  Catholic  family  favored 
with  the  goods  of  this  world,  young  Catharine  had  the  misfortune 
to  lose  her  parents  in  childhood  and  be  brought  up  by  a  Protestant 
uncle.  She  was  not  required  to  renounce  her  baptismal  faith, 
but  she  was  deprived  of  all  means  of  religious  instruction,  and 
many  a  young  girl  would  have  succumbed  to  the  influence  of 
such  an  education.  Miss  McAuley,  however,  resolved  to  remain 
firm  in  the  communion  of  her  parents,  and  as  soon  as  she  was 
mistress  of  her  actions  she  was  instructed  in  her  religion,  and 
made  rapid  progress  in  piety.  Rejecting  all  offers  for  her  hand, 
she  conceived  the  project  of  devoting  her  person  and  her  fortune 
to  the  relief  of  her  neighbor ;  yet  she  did  not  leave,  before  theii 

*  Illustrations  of  the  Corporal  and  Spiritual  Works  of  Mercy  ;  by  a  Sister 
of  the  religious  order  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy,  with  descriptive  anecdotes. 
London,  1840.  This  charming  album  represents  in  a  series  of  engravings 
the  Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the  exercise  of  each  work,  and  was  designed  and 
written  by  Sister  Agnew,  a  convert  from  Protestantism,  authoress  of  Geral- 
dine  Rome  and  the  Abbey,  and  the  Young  Communicants.  We  regret  only 
that  the  letter-press  was  so  brief. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


299 


death,  the  foster-parents  who  had  watched  over  her  childhood, 
and  even  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  both  her  uncle  and  aunt 
abjure  Protestantism.  The  spectacle  of  all  the  works  of  charity 
eflfected  by  Miss  McAuley  in  their  castle  had  preached  most 
effectually  to  their  hearts.  Guided  by  the  advice  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Armstrong,  she  bought  some  ground  on  Baggot-street,  Dub- 
lin, and  erected  a  large  house  to  found  her  peculiar  work  of 
mercy — "  the  protection  of  decent  women."  After  long  consulta- 
tions with  the  diocesan  authority  as  to  the  propriety  of  founding 
a  new  institute,  instead  of  joining  one  of  those  already  existing, 
Mrs.  McAuley  resolved  to  create  the  Orc^r  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  and  entered  her  convent  with  some  companions  in  1827. 

She  soon,  however,  left  it  in  order  to  go  through  a  regular  no- 
vitiate in  the  Presentation  Convent,  Dublin ;  after  which  she  re- 
turned to  her  house  in  Baggot-street,  in  December,  1830,  and 
her  companions  in  their  turn  went  to  receive  the  veil  at  the 
Presentation.  Since  then  the  renown  of  the  good  eflfected  at 
Dublin  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  induced  other  cities  to  solicit 
them,  and  the  new  Dublin  Order  extended  with  wonderful  rapidity 
over  all  Ireland.  Nor  was  the  good  which  it  eflfected  confined 
to  the  island  of  saints ;  it  soon  spread  to  England*  and  the  colo- 
nies of  the  British  Empire,  and  ere  long  the  Sisterhood  of  Mercy 
came  to  share  the  labors  of  the  other  religious  orders  in  the 
United  States.  In  1843,  Bishop  O'Connor,  as  we  have  seen, 
solicited  and  obtained  a  colony  of  seven  Sisters  for  his  episcopal 
city,  of  which  Mother  Francis  Xavier  Warde  was  appointed  Su- 
perior. There,  meanwhile,  God  had  prepared  a  most  valuable 
accession  to  the  pious  colony  thus  selected  for  the  undertaking. 
Miss  Eliza  Jane  Tieman  was  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  wealthiest 
and  most  highly  esteemed  merchants  of  Pittsburg.  She  was 
educated  at  Emmetsburg,  and  uniting  in  her  person  the  accom- 

•  The  first  convent  in  England  was  founded  at  Bermondsey,  London,  in 
1889. 


If.  i 


I 


800 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


plishments  which  h  polished  education  gave,  with  the  natural 
advantages  arising  from  the  wealth  and  position  of  her  family,  as 
well  as  from  her  own  natural  talents,  she  was  one  of  the  greatest 
favorites  in  the  fashionable  circles  of  Pittsburg.  She  had  been 
for  a  long  time  deliberating  on  her  vocation,  but  in  the  summer 
of  1843,  before  the  appointment  of  the  bishop,  and  during  Dr. 
O'Connor's  absence  in  Europe,  she  resolved  on  examining  care- 
fully the  will  of  God  in  her  regard.  She  had  heard  something  of 
the  Order  of  Mercy,  though  none  of  its  members  were  yet  to  be 
found  in  the  United  States.  She  obtained  all  the  information 
she  could  on  the  subject,  and  finally  resolved  to  recommend  the 
matter  to  God  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  to 
whom  she  had  always  entertained  great  devotion.  She  made  a 
novena  preparatory  to  his  feast  in  December,  1843,  and  having 
received  communion  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  resolved  firmly 
to  become  a  Sister  of  Mercy,  though  she  was  then  entirely  igno- 
rant of  the  means  by  which  her  resolution  could  be  accomplished. 
Bishop  O'Connor  had  already  been  consecrated  at  Rome,  but  no 
account  of  his  movements  had  reached  Pittsburg  before  the  3d  of 
December.  On  that  day  his  departure  from  Europe,  accompa 
nied  by  seven  Sisters  of  Mercy,  was  announced  in  the  newspapers 
received  from  Philadelphia,  and  these  were  handed  by  Mr.  Tier- 
nan  to  his  daughter,  when  he  came  to  dinner,  with  the  pithy 
remark  that  he  thought  he  had  news  that  would  interest  her.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  say  that  in  a  few  weeks  she  was  a  postulant  in 
the  new  convent  of  Mercy,  and  in  due  time  was  professed  under 
the  name  of  Sister  Xavier.  Her  father  died  before  her  profession, 
leaving  her  a  handsome  fortune,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  use 
she  would  make  of  it.  She  bestowed  it  upon  the  community, 
and  thus  enabled  the  Sisters  to  become  almost  at  once  firmly 
established,  and  to  spread  rapidly.  In  1843,  the  Mother  Supe- 
rior resolved  to  revisit  Ireland  to  obtain  an  additional  supply  of 
Sisters  of  experience,  who  might  enable  the  community  to  meet 


1 


ly,  as 
iatest 
been 
miner 
igDr. 
care- 
ling  of 
to  bo 
mation 
ind  the 
vier,  to 
nade  a 
having 
i  firmly 
ly  igno- 
iplished. 
I,  but  no 
te  3d  of 
compa 
spapers 
r.  Tier- 
e  pithy 
Iher.    It 
ilant  in 
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[ofession, 
the  use 
imunity, 
|e  firmly 
ir  Supe- 
lupply  of 
to  meet 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


801 


the  increasing  demand  for  their  services.  She  selected  Sister 
Xavier  as  her  companion.  At  the  various  houses  they  visited, 
all  were  so  struck  with  her  piety  and  good  sense  that  they 
referred  to  her  as  a  most  suitable  person  to  be  appointed  mistress 
of  novices,  and  to  that  oflSce  she  was  in  fact  appointed  on  her 
return.  But  alas !  her  career  was  short.  Of  her  it  may  be  truly 
said,  "In  brevi  explevit  tempora  multa."  The  Sisters  opened 
their  hospital  in  1847,  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  shelter  for 
the  sick  and  poor  of  the  city  but  an  abandoned  coal-shed,  which 
had  formerly  been  connected  with  the  water-works.  There  was 
nothing  in  which  Sister  Xavier  felt  greater  interest,  and  she  de- 
voted herself  to  it  with  all  her  energies.  In  the  spring  of  1848 
the  typhus  fever  was  raging.  Several  of  the  Sisters  contracted 
the  fatal  disease  and  fell  victims  to  it.  Sister  Xavier  was  inces- 
sant in  her  attendance,  but  though  she  escaped  the  typhus,  ery- 
sipelas, the  result  of  her  close  attendance  in  the  crowded  wards, 
attacked  her,  and  in  a  few  days  put  a  period  to  her  labors  on 
earth. 

Such  was  one  whom  God  raised  up  for  the  Order  to  give  it 
its  first  member  in  the  United  States,  an  example  of  all  virtue, 
her  personal  services,  and  earthly  wealth. 

Among  the  eminent  Sisters  of  this  house  who  have  since  de- 
parted this  life,  we  may  also  allude  to  the  Superioress,  Sister 
Josephine  CuUen,  a  niece  of  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  Sister 
Aloysia  Strange,  cousin  of  the  Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Westmin- 
ster, both  primates  of  the  United  Kingdom  having  contributed 
in  their  families  to  found  the  Order  of  Mercy  among  us.* 

All  the  houses  in  the  United  States  are  not,  however,  filiations 
of  that  at  Pittsburg.  That  at  New  York  was  founded  by  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  who,  in  1846,  obtained  some  Sisters  in  Dublin 
for  his  episcopal  city,  where  they^  have  accomplished  prodigies  of 

*  Letter  of  Rt.  Rev.  M.  O'Connor.    A  Sketoh  of  the  Order  of  Meroy :  Dublin. 


(I 


802 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


good,  and  in  1866  founded  a  house  in  Brooklyn.  The  house  in 
Newfoundland,  now  numbering  forty  Sisters,  was  founded  from 
Ireland  in  1843,  as  was  that  of  San  Francisco  in  1864. 

The  venerable  foundress  did  not  see  on  earth  this  admirable 
development  of  her  work.  Yet  she  lived  long  enough  to  have 
the  consolation  of  hearing  that  her  institute  had  been  canonically 
recognized  at  Rome,  by  Pontifical  rescript  of  July  6th,  1841,  and 
she  died  soon  after,  leaving  a  memory  in  great  veneration  among 
her  spiritual  daughters.*'  , 

After  having  provided  for  the  Christian  education  of  young 
girls  and  the  relief  of  the  sick,  Bishop  O'Connor's  next  care  was 
to  secure  the  youth  of  the  other  sex  the  boon  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  with  this  design  the  prelate  brought  from  Ireland  with 
him,  in  1846,  some  Brothers  of  the  Presentation.  The  mother 
house  of  this  religious  institute  was  then  at  Cork ;  but  God  did 
not  seem  to  favor  the  establishment  in  America;  one  of  the 
Brothers  soon  died  at  Pittsburg ;  another  asked  to  return  to  Ire- 
land ;  a  third  wished  to  leave  the  institute,  in  order  to  become  a 
priest,  and  entered  among  the  Augustinians  at  Philadelphia.  At 
last,  as  if  to  show  the  designs  of  Providence,  Brother  Paul  Carey 
and  Brother  Francis  Ryan  were  struck  by  lightning  in  the  open 
street  on  the  2d  of  July,  1848,  as  they  were  returning  to  their 
residence  in  Binningham,  after  teaching  Sunday-school,  in  the 
school-house  attached  to  the  cathedral  in  Pittsburg.  Only  one 
professed  Brother  and  two  novices  were  now  left,  and  these  were 
too  few  to  continue  the  schools. 

Bishop  O'Connor  had  already  thought  of  replacing  them,  and 
applied  to  the  Brothers  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis,  estab- 
lished in  the  diocese  of  Tuam  in  Ireland.  With  the  approbation 
of  the  Most  Rev.  John  McHale,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  the  com- 
munities of  Clifden  and  Roundstone  gave  six  members,  who  set 

*  Beview,  March,  1847;   and  information  afforded  by  Mothor  Agnes 
O'Connor.  . 


r"? 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


808 


ouse  in 
ad  from 

imirable 
to  have 
nonically 
841,  and 
)n  among 

of  young 
t  care  was 
us  instruo- 
eland  with 
he  mother 
ut  God  did 
oxie  of  the 
,urn  to  Ire- 
)  become  a 

ilphia.  At 
Ipaul  Carey 
L  the  open 
|ng  to  their 

Lool,  in  the 
Only  one 
these  were 

them,  and 
l-ancis,  estab- 
1  approbation 

J,  the  com- 
[ers,  who  set 

lothor  Agnes 


out  for  America  in  1847,  and  founded  a  house  at  Loretto,  in  the 
village  created  by  the  Rev.  Demetrius  Oallitzin.  The  chief  ob- 
ject of  the  Franciscan  Brothers  is  the  education  of  youth,  and 
manual  labor  is  their  secondary  object.  The  principal  convent 
and  novitiate  are  at  Loretto ;  but  the  Brothers  also  opened  a 
house  at  Cameron  Bottom  in  1862,  and  a  school  in  Pittsburg, 
where  they  have  over  four  hundred  pupils.  They  have,  also,  a 
school  at  Allegheny  and  a  boarding-school  at  Loretto.  Thirty 
Brothers  are  employed  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg,  and  as  the 
number  increases,  the  vigilant  bishop  confides  schools  to  them, 
to  shield  Catholic  children  from  the  dangers  of  the  government 
schools.  The  Third  Order  of  Franciscans  was  instituted  by  St. 
Francis  of  Assisium  for  persons  living  in  the  world,  either  in  the 
state  of  marriage  or  celibacy.*  At  a  later  date.  Pope  Leo  X. 
selected  from  the  written  rules  of  St.  Francis  those  to  be  observed 
by  the  Tertiaries  living  in  community.  About  1821,  a  branch 
of  the  Order  was  established  at  Mount  Bellew,  county  Galway, 
Ireland,  by  the  Rev.  Michael  Bernard  Dillon,  Friar  Minor ;  and 
the  Provincial  of  the  Franciscans  in  Ireland  appointed  him  Su- 
perior of  the  community,  a  post  which  he  filled  till  his  death, 
1828.  In  January,  1881,  the  Franciscan  Brothers  obtained  per- 
mission of  the  Holy  See  to  depend  solely  on  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  and  in  1848,  those  of  Loretto  asked  to  obey  only  the 
Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  which  was  granted,  with  authority  to  open 
a  novitiate,  and  privilege  of  founding  houses  of  their  Order  in 
other  parts  of  America.f 

The  Catholic  education  of  the  sons  of  the  lower  classes  being 
secured  by  the  coming  of  the  Franciscan  Brothers,  it  still  remain- 


*  joi.r.  ■'V^rnardon,  born  at  Asaiaium  in  1182,  was  called  Francis,  or  the 
French,  because  Ub  spoke  that  lan^^uage  fluently.  He  began  to  obtain  fol- 
lowers in  1209,  and  died  in  1226.  He  was  canonized  in  1228.  (See  his  life 
in  Alban  Butler.) 

t  Information  furnished  by  Brother  Lawrence  T.  O'Donnel,  Superior  of 
the  Monastery  of  Loretto. 


804 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ed  to  think  of  preserving  religion  in  the  heartA  of  the  young  men 
of  higher  rank  in  society,  by  establishing  a  college,  with  learned 
and  able  masters.  While  anxious  to  secure  this,  Bishop  0*Con- 
nor  warmly  welcomed  an  offer  of  the  Benedictines  of  Metten,  in 
Bavaria,  to  found  a  monastery  in  his  diocese  ;  and  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  1846,  a  priest  of  this  ancient  and  venerable  order. 
Father  Boniface  Wimmer,  now  Mitred  Abbot,  arrived,  accompa- 
nied by  sixteen  brothers,  and  four  students  in  theology.  The 
great  St.  Boniface,  who  evangelized  Germany  from  720  to  766, 
and,  with  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See,  created  four  'ush*  p  'os 
in  Bavaria,  also  founded  monasteries  of  religious  there  ;  bur  u  is 
not  certain  whether  these  monks  followed  the  rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, or  that  of  St.  Basil,  borrowed  from  the  Eastern  monks. 
Boniface,  bom  in  England,  drew  over  to  Germany  from  his  na- 
tive land  many  Benedictine  religious,  who  aided  him  to  reform 
abuses  among  the  Christians,  and  convert  the  idolaters.  But  the 
uncertainty  as  to  the  constitutions  of  his  monasteries  ceased  with 
the  year  804,  when  the  Council  of  Aix  la  Chapello  decreed  that 
the  rule  of  St.  Benedict  only  should  be  followed.  At  the  co/n- 
mencement  of  this  century,  except  that  of  St.  James  of  the  Scots 
at  Ratisbon,  and  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns  at  Eichstadt,  all  the 
Benedictine  monasteries  in  Bavaria  were  suppressed  by  the  pre- 
ponderance of  Josephism,  and  the  elector  confiscated  their  prop- 
erty. But  twenty-four  years  later,  and  in  1827,  thanks  to  the 
influence  of  King  Louis,  the  Abbey  of  St.  Michael,  at  Wetteu, 
was  restored,  followed  by  St.  Stephen's,  .  t  ■^Uj^sburg,  in  1834, 
and  several  in  other  cities.  The  work  '1  i«  ^tv^ii:..on  bein,^  crown- 
ed, in  1860,  by  the  establishment  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Boniface, 
with  a  novitiate  at  Munich,  a  new  generation  of  Fathers  soon  re- 
^aved  the  learned  studies  and  teachings  of  the  ancient  Benedic- 
♦.  les.  When  it  was  proposed  to  found  a  seminary  for  the  German 
mitajons  in  America,  the  Benedictines  warmly  entered  into  the 
project ;   and  Father  Boniface  Wimmer  having  offered  to  begin 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


;  men 
larued 
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order, 
compft" 
^.    The 
to  756, 

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3t.  Bene- 
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to  reform 
But  the 
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it  Benedic- 
the  German 
)d  into  the 
to  begin 


the  work,  was  sent  out  by  the  Society  of  the  Missions  at  Muni^^h. 
The  attempt  pro  ^d  mont  Huccesuful,  and  the  Benedictines  in  Penn- 
sylvania, after  an  existence  of  only  nine  vi.irs  in  the  country,  liavo 
spread  so  as  to  number  live  monaMteries,  in  which  one  hundred 
and  fifty  members  of  the  great  family  of  St.  Benedict  devote  them- 
selves to  every  kind  of  intellectual  study  and  mauual  labor.  The 
Holy  See  has  taken  into  consideration  this  remarkable  progress, 
and  by  brief  of  July  29,  1855,  raised  the  monastery  of  St.  Vin- 
cent, at  Latrobe,  to  the  dignity  of  Abbey,  according  to  the 
statutes  of  the  Congregation  of  Bavaria,  and  aggregated  it  to  th<  = 
celebrated  Abbey  of  Monte  Cassino,  in  Italy  Father  Boniface 
Wimmer  is  appointed  first  Mitred  Abbot  of  t^'e  Benedictines  of 
America,  and  will  have  under  his  jurisdiction  i  he  monasteries  of 
Carrolltown  and  Indiana,  in  the  diocese  of  Pittsfurg,  and  that  of 
St.  Marystown,  in  the  diocese  of  Erie.  St.  Vino  nt's  Abbey  has 
a  very  flourishing  college ;  and  the  Benedictines  will,  doubtless, 
in  consequence  of  the  complete  organization  now  gi  ven  to  the  or- 
der in  America,  soon  extend  the  sphere  of  their  acti'^n  and  influ- 
ence. Eleven  centuries  since,  Germany  obtained  its  first  religious 
from  England  and  Ireland ;  now  Bavaria  repays  the  <  lebt  in  part, 
at  last,  by  sending  among  the  descendants  of  the  islanders,  in  the 
New  World,  the  Benedictines  and  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame.* 

Bishop  O'Connor  also  enriched  his  diocese  with  a  ho  ise  of  the 
Sisters  of  the  Congregation  of  Notre  Dame,  of  which  w    have  al- 

*  St.  Benedict,  born  at  Nard,  in  Unibria,  in  480,  began,  toward  the  close 
of  the  century,  to  gather  coinpunions  around  him  ;  and  at  hi»  deat  i,  in  548, 
had  already  built  many  monasteries.  His  rule  spread  all  over  the  West, 
and  after  a  long  struggle  with  that  of  St.  Columban  and  the  Irish  monks, 
which  had  prevailed  in  Ireland,  Britain,  France,  and  Germany,  finally  su- 
perneded  it. 

The  diocese  of  Vinconnes,  also,  possesses  a  monastery  of  Bened  ctines, 
A  filiation  of  the  celebrated  Abbey  of  our  Lady,  at  Ensiedien,  in  Sweden. 
Faithful  to  their  traditions  as  early  clvilizers  of  Europe,  the  Benedict!  nea  of 
!'■•  iflauJ  and  Spain  are  now  laboring  to  elevate  tiie  savages  of  Australia. 
Ill  Bavaria  tlioy  now  number  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  Fathers  and 
flfty-flve  nvLn».— {Letter  (^ Fat/wr  Marogna.) 


\ 


306 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


ready  spoken.  At  Pittsburg  they  instruct  two  hundred  and  fifty 
girls,  and  have,  moreover,  an  orphan  asylum  at  Troy  Hill.  The 
order  is  now  so  firmly  established,  that  for  some  years  no  Sisters 
have  come  out  from  Germany. 

A»  the  same  time  that  Bishop  O'Connor  was  laboring  in  the 
cause  of  education,  he  was  zealously  engaged  in  assuring  a  con- 
tinuance of  parochial  clergy,  and  his  success  has  been  admirable. 
He  found  but  fifteen  priests  in  his  diocese  when  he  took  posses- 
sion in  1843,  and  in  the  short  space  of  ten  years  he  had  increased 
the  number  to  eighty.  Besides  fixed  pastors,  the  prelate  sought 
to  give  his  flock  the  advantage  of  periodical  missions,  where,  by 
the  influence  of  holy  retreats  and  eloquent  preaching,  the  faith 
is  awakened  in  many  hearts.  With  this  view,  during  a  visit  to 
Rome  in  1852,  Dr.  O'Connor  asked  the  General  of  the  Passionists 
V)  give  him  some  priests  of  his  order,  and  he  brought  out  with 
flim  three  priests  and  one  brother,  who  arrived  at  Pittsburg  on 
the  6th  of  December,  1852. 

The  Institute  of  the  Passionists,  or,  more  properly,  Barefooted 
Clerks  of  the  Most  Holy  Cross  and  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  was 
founded  by  Paul  Danei,  better  known  as  the  Blessed  Paul  of  the 
Cross,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1694,  at  Ovada,  in 
the  diocese  of  Acqui,  in  the  Republic  of  Genoa.  This  holy  priest 
began  his  first  community  in  1737,  at  Mount  Argentard,  and  on 
the  15th  of  May,  1741,  obtained  of  Pope  Benedict  XIV.  the  con- 
firmation of  his  rule.  The  object  of  Father  Paul  of  the  Cross 
was  to  unite  the  mortified  life  of  the  Trappists  and  Carthusians 
with  the  active  life  of  the  Jesuits  and  Lazarists.  He  wished  to 
embrace  at  once  contemplation  and  action  and  devote  himself  to 
the  ministry  of  the  word  in  missions.  His  rule  was  again  con- 
firmed, with  some  modifications,  by  Pope  Clement  XIV.,  in  1760, 
and  by  Pius  VI.  in  1775  ;  and  the  holy  founder,  who  died  at 
Rome  on  the  l7th  of  October,  1775,  was  beatified  by  Pius  IX. 
on  the  1st  of  October,  1852.     The  Institute  of  the  Blessed  Paul 


i\.    The 

a  Sisters 

y  in  the 
ig  a  con- 
dmirable. 
)l5;  posses- 
increased 
,te  sought 
where,  by 
r,  the  faith 
f  a  visit  to 
Passionists 
it  out  with 
ittsburg  on 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


807 


of  the  Cross  spread  rapidly,  especially  after  his  holy  death,  and  in 
1810  there  existed  in  Italy  many  houses  of  Passionists  called  Ritiri. 
Suppressed  by  the  French  invasion,  they  reorganized  in  1814 ;  and 
in  1840  made  a  first  establishment  in  England,  at  Aston  Hall, 
Staffordshire,  under  the  patronage  of  Bishop,  now  Cardinal  Wise- 
man. The  Right  Honorable  Lord  Spencer,  converted  from  Prot- 
estantism in  1830,  is  now  the  humble  Father  Ignatius,  Passion- 
ist,  and  all  know  the  journeys  he  has  undertaken,  and  the  ardor 
he  displayed  to  form  an  association  of  prayers  for  the  conversion 
of  England.  The  order  is  now  divided  into  five  provinces — 
three  in  Italy,  one  in  England,  and  one  in  Belgium.  On  this 
latter  depend  two  Ritiri  in  France — one  at  Bordeaux,  and  the 
other  at  Boulogne.  The  General  resides  at  Rome,  in  the  house 
of  St.  John  and  St.  Paul,  given  to  the  Passionists  by  Pope 
Clement  XIV. ;  and  they  owe  to  the  munificence  of  Pope  Pius 
IX.  another  house  near  the  Santa  Scala,  of  which  he  has  con- 
fided the  care  to  them.  The  Passionists  number  about  seven 
hundred ;  they  have  missions  and  a  bishop  in  Hungary,  and 
other  missionaries  of  their  order  have  borne  the  Gospel  to  Aus- 
tralia.* 

The  Passionists  established  at  Birmingham,  near  Pittsburg, 
received  in  1854  a  reinforcement  of  two  priests  and  one  brother. 
They  have  opened  a  novitiate,  where  five  clerics  prepare  for  study 
and  the  functions  of  the  priesthood.  Want  of  a  complete  mastery  of 
English  has  hitherto  prevented  their  giving  missions  in  the  dio- 
cese ;  but  they  have  already  been  useful  in  the  ministry,  and  two 
of  them  direct  a  parish  of  three  thousand  German  Catholics  near 
their  Ritiro.     They  are  greatly  enlarging  their  church  and  house. 


*  The  Life  of  the  Blessed  Paul  of  the  Cross,  founder  of  the  Barefooted 
Clerks  of  the  Most  Holy  Cross  and  Passion.     London,  1853. 

The  author  is  Mouseignore  Strambi,  who  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity, 
Bishop  of  Macerata  and  Tolentino,  and  who,  before  being  raised  to  the  epis- 
copacy, was  Fra  Vincent  de  San  Paolo,  Passionist. 


308 


THE  CATHOLIC 'church 


in  order  to  give  retreats  to  ecclesiastics  and  laics  according  to 
their  institute ;  and  the  adjunction  of  this  new  religious  order, 
for  which  the  Catholics  of  America  are  indebted  to  the  zeal  of 
Bishop  O'Connor,  bids  fair  to  realize  in  the  United  States  all  the 
good  which  it  has  produced  for  the  last  fifteen  years  in  Eng- 
land.* 

The  Bishop  of  Pittsburg,  finding  his  diocese  too  extended,  and 
fearing  that,  with  ail  his  activity,  he  would  be  unable  to  main- 
tain an  efficacious  superintendence,  solicited  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  Baltimore,  in  1862,  to  propose  to  the  Holy  See  the  erec- 
tion of  an  episcopal  See  at  Erie.  The  prelate  even  oflfered  to 
assume  the  direction  of  the  new  diocese,  and  there  to  begin  anew 
the  work  of  organization  which  he  had  so  happily  accomplished 
at  Pittsburg.  The  proposal  was  made  at  Rome  ;  and  by  letters 
apostolical  of  July  29,  1853,  the  Right  Rev.  Michael  O'Connor 
was  transferred  to  the  See  of  Erie,  comprising  the  ten  northwest 
counties  of  Pennsylvania.  At  the  same  time,  the  Rev.  Josue  M 
Young,  Pastor  of  Lancaster,  Ohio,  was  elected  to  the  See  of  Pitts- 
burg. Bishop  O'Connor  at  once  repaired  to  his  new  post ;  but 
the  regret  of  his  former  diocesans  at  his  departure,  and  the  opin 
ions  of  his  brethren  in  the  episcopacy,  having  reached  Rome, 
he  was  restored  to  the  See  of  Pittsburg,  and  Bishop  Young, 
who  had  declined  it,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Erie  on  the  23d 
of  April,  1854.  On  his  return  to  Pittsburg,  Dr.  O'Connor  bent 
all  his  energy  to  complete  his  Cathedral  building,  to  replace  that 
destroyed  by  a  conflagration  in  1851.  This  misfortune  had  ap- 
parently exhausted  the  bishop's  resources ;  but,  by  perseverance 
and  confidence  in  God,  he  at  last  reared  a  new  pile,  at  a  cost  of 
eighty  thousand  dollars.  When  we  consider  the  general  poverty 
of  the  Catholics  of  America,  and  the  frequent  appeals  made  to 


■*  Information  furnished  by  Kev.  Giovanni  Domenico,  Superior  of  the 
Rltiro  at  Birmingham. 


theii 

erect 

such 

on  tl 

heid, 

most 

tectun 

Bart  be 

adorn 

Christii 

chapels 

any  spo 

vast  pro 

^uropeai 

the  cere] 

great  inc 

and  seen] 

Protestan 

the  first  8 

derstand  t 
of  St.  Pet 
many  here 
spectators, 
some  maje! 
bJJity  to  th 
On  Sund 
the  Cathed 
Wshops,  wh 
part  in  that 
^hen  we  re: 
to  the  jurist 


IN  THZ   UNITED    STATES.  ... 

fteir  generosity,  we  can  8carcelv.„„    •     v 

'uch  a  result  is  no  less  a  euCo"  1     *''V™P°'^»«e !  »d 
on  the  munificence  of  his  fl^^""  ^.7;;'  «f  "-e  bishop,  than 
i'ld,  at  a  late  mission,  over  ei^hi  .J      ^""""'''^  "^  «'■  Paul 
m<«t  spacious  church  in  the  0n  .^Tf  '"*''''  »-l  »  the 
^cture  reflects  honor  on  the  tT*  !^'-    ^^  ^""^'^  archi- 
B;rtberger;  and  the  omaU:  sjl^  ?""««'•  «-•  Charl. 
*rn  the  interior,  gi.e  the  tra,rtr    ''-■'^d  glass,  which 
Chnstmn  people,    ft  is  ft,  f,  ""'  ""*''»  »ajesty  worthy  „f  » 

Capels  which  the  missio  aril  S  tr'V" '"'^'' -O"™"^ 

vast  proportions,  such  aa  would  no  t  /' "'  ^  ""^  <"'«'«<i«l  of 
European  city,  and  affording  room  f^^ 'T!"  ""'"^ '"  ^^  old 
fte  ceremonial  of  the  Church -t  t«    P^"^ '"  ""  "'^  Po»P 
«-at  mdustr,-al  city  of  Pittsbu^rthl  tr".*"""  "'""  *"« 
»d  seem  to  consecrate  it  to  cSh!^   .f '"""gham  of  America, 
Protestant  can  find  place  wL"^'    ^"  "^  '-o'osure  the 
the  first  sign  „f  gra<^  dt^^L^r"'*^'  "'■'"'  «  -"« dm 

of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  has  been  th.       f  ^""*'  *«  basilica 
-any  heretics  or  infidels  who  e„t    ^  "'"'  °'  <"""«"»» 

«Peotato«,  all  will  feel  ho^  use  7"'  'I  '""'^  "  "''^ff-'t 
^-»e  majestic  shrines  in  the  S  sl  '"  '""^o"  '»  P0'^» 
W%  U,  the  wo^hip  and  fervor  t„lt^' '"  °'<^-  '»  give  sta- 

On  Sunday,  the  Qdih    ^r  ^^^^' 

*e  Cathedral  at  ^i2:l':2 '^^ ■''"  ^"-»  ''^^-tion  of 
fc«  ops,  who  came  from  fll  ptf  of  '"  T™'^  "'  ^^'^teen 
part  m  that  imposing  ceremo'v  IT  "''  "'^"'^  '»  take 
*en  we  reflect  that  a  centuTa^f  "^  p'  T"^  '^  ''"'-'■•'g. 


•M««>Po.ta„r„.A„,„,,,,,,.   ^„,,,,_^^^^^ 


•f?»v-- 


5 


310 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


Catholic  prelate  in  North  America,  from  the  frontiers  of  Mexico 
to  Hudson's  Bay. 

The  city  of  Erie,  situated  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  of  the 
same  name,  recalling  an  Indian  tribe  which  has  long  since  been 
swept  away,  is  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  French  fort  Presqu  'ile, 
and  in  1755,  as  French  annals  state,  this  fort  had  as  chaplain 
the  Recollect,  Father  Luke  Collet.  It  was  then  only  a  military 
post,  and  colonization  does  not  appear  to  have  entered  there  till 
the  close  of  the  century.  The  first  missionary  who  seems  to 
have  exercised  the  ministry  among  the  Irish  immigrants  at  Erie 
and  thereabouts,  was  the  Rev.  Father  Whelan,  who  took  up  his 
residence  at  Sugar  Creek  about  the  time  of  the  suit  against  Mr. 
Fromm.  His  visit  to  Erie  took  place  about  1807.  We  know  of 
no  other  missionary  there  till  Father  William  O'Brien,  a  native 
of  Maryland  and  pupil  of  Georgetown,  who  had  been  ordained 
in  1808,  repaired  thither  in  1815.  The  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Maguire,  of  Pittsburg,  held  some  stations  there  in  1816  and 
1817,  after  whom  the  Rev.  Terence  McGirr  came  to  Erie  three 
times  from  1818  to  1821  to  administer  the  sacraments.  The 
Rev.  Patrick  O'Neil  was  then  appointed  to  serve  Erie  at  long 
intervals,  and  his  last  visit  took  place  in  1830.  The  Rev.  Fran- 
cis Masquelet,  an  Alsacian  priest,  showed  himself  several  times  at 
Erie  from  1834  to  1836,  and  the  Rev.  Patrick  Raflferty,  the 
author  of  a  small  history  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  was 
there  in  1837.  Till  this  period  the  city  was  too  unimportant, 
and  the  missionaries  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  too  few  to  ena- 
ble Erie  to  have  one  permanently  stationed  there.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  McCabe  resided  there  from  1838  to  1840,  and  the  following 
year  Father  J.  Lewis,  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  was  appointed 
to  take  charge  of  the  German  population  who  had  begun  to 
settle  at  Erie.  This  was  the  epoch  of  the  erection  of  the  two 
little  wooden  churches,  one  for  the  Irish  and  American,  tlie 
other  for  the  German  Catholics.     Since  then  both  have  been 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


311 


rebuilt  of  brick,  and  of  more  enlarged  dimensions,  and  tbey  are 
opened  to  worship,  although  their  exteriors  are  not  finished :  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  which  now  serves  as  a  Cathedral,  has  had 
successively  as  pastors  the  Rev.  P.  Prendcrgast,  R.  Brown,  T. 
S.  Reynolds  and  Dean  ;  and  the  German  Church  of  St.  Mary's 
has  been  served  by  the  Rev.  P.  Kleidernam,  N.  Steinbacher,  and 
F.  J.  Hartman.  The  patriarchal  Catholic  family  of  Erie  is  that 
of  Mrs.  Dickson,  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  and  as 
soon  as  a  priest  appeared  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  received  the 
missionaries  under  her  roof,  showed  them  the  most  cordial  hos- 
pitality, and  has  always  generously  contributed  to  the  erection 
of  the  churches  and  the  support  of  the  clergy.  The  venerable 
Mrs.  Dickson,  who  is  still  alive,  is  of  the  Gillespie  family  at 
Brownsville,  noted  for  its  devotedness  to  religion  from  the 
introduction  of  Catholicity  into  Ohio  and  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

It  has  been  said  that  Erie  was  pointed  out  by  the  venerable 
Bishop  Flaget  as  a  suitable  See  for  a  diocese,  and  we  read  in  the 
Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith :  "  When  we  trace  this 
journey  of  over  two  thousand  miles,  we  might  say  that  wherever 
Bishop  Flaget  pitched  his  tent  he  lays  the  foundation  of  a  new 
church,  and  that  every  one  of  his  chief  resting-places  has  been 
raised  to  a  bishopric.  St.  Louis,  in  Missouri ;  Detroit,  in  Mich- 
igan; Cincinnati,  capital  of  Ohio;  Erie  and  Buflfalo,  on  the 
lakes;  Pittsburg,  which  he  evangelized  on  his  way  back  to 
Louisville,  after  thirteen  months'  absence,  after  giving  missions 
wherever  he  found  a  town  of  whites,  a  plantation  of  slaves,  or  a 
village  of  Indians."* 

Erie  was  not,  however,  a  bishop's  See  in  1850  :  it  became  so 
only  in  1 853,  and  we  deem  it  very  doubtful  whether  Bishop 
Flaget  ever  passed  through  that  city.    In  his  journey  to  Canada, 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xxii.  841. 


w 


812 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  venerable  bishop  traversed  Lake  Erie  from  Detroit  to 
Niagara  in  a  sailing  vessel.  Erie  was  then  too  unimportant  a 
spot  for  a  vessel  to  stop  at,  and  if  Bishop  Flagct  landed  for  a 
few  hours,  he  certainly  did  not  officiate  or  perform  any  ecclesi- 
astical function,  although  we  confess  he  may  have  passed  through 
in  1836.  "We  accordingly  do  not  think  that  the  proposal  of 
Erie  for  a  See  dates  prior  to  1852. 

In  1855  this  diocese  contained  thirty-two  churches  and  sixteen 
ecclesiastics,  and  the  Catholic  population  is  estimated  at  thir- 
teen thousand.  Two  of  the  Benedictine  monasteries  of  Penn- 
sylvania, those  of  St.  Marystown  and  Frenchville,  are  situated 
in  the  diocese  of  Erie,  and  in  1853  there  was  established  also  at 
St.  Mary's  a  convent  of  Benedictine  nuns  from  the  celebrated 
monastery  of  St.  Walburga,  at  Eichstadt,  in  Bavaria.  In  1855, 
Sister  Benedicta  Reipp  was  the  Mother  Superior,  with  five  pro- 
fessed sisters  and  sixteen  novices.  The  Benedictine  nuns  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  girls,  and  direct  the  parish  schools, 
but  they  are  preparing  to  open  a  boarding-school,  in  order  to  give 
superior  instruction  to  young  ladies,  and  their  cultivated  manners 
admirably  fit  them  for  the  highest  sphere  of  education. 

The  convent  of  St.  Walburga,  at  Eichstadt,  dates  as  far  back 
as  the  year  1022,  and  was  begun  in  that  year  by  Bishop  Her- 
bert, who  made  the  convent  grants  of  land.  From  age  to  age. 
new  benefactors  increased  the  property  of  the  Benedictines,  so 
that  at  the  secularization,  the  spoliators  found  a  rich  spoil  to 
divide  in  the  charity  of  the  faithful.  The  monastery  was  then 
almost  entirely  destroyed.  By  the  intercession,  however,  of  the 
Bishop  of  Eichstadt,  Joseph  Anthony,  Count  of  Stribenberg,  the 
nuns  obtained  permission  to  dwell  in  community  till  a  royal 
decree  of  June  7th,  1835,  permitted  them  to  receive  novices,  and 
gave  new  life  to  the  monastery.  St.  Walburga,  patroness  of  the 
Bavarian  Benedictine  nuns,  is  honored  in  some  parts  of  France 
by  the  name  of  Saint  Avaugour.    Daughter  of  St.  Richard, 


*  Fabei 
tlie  Saints 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


313 


king  of  the  West  Saxons  in  England,  and  sister  of  Sts.  Willibald 
and  Winibald.  she  Avas  at  an  early  age  placed  in  the  Benedictine 
convent  of  Winburn,  when  her  father  and  brothers  set  out  on 
their  pilgrimage  for  Rome  and  Jerusalem.  In  748,  her  uncle, 
St.  Boniface,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  invited  her  to  join  him  in 
Germany,  and  notwithstanding  her  disinclination  to  leave  Win- 
burn,  where  she  had  spent  twenty-eight  happy  years  of  her  life, 
she  set  out  with  thirty  of  her  companions.  She  soon  became 
Superioress  of  the  convent  of  Heidenheim,  built  in  752.*  Her 
two  brothers  were  also  called  over  to  Germany  by  St.  Boniface, 
and  Willibald  became  first  Bishop  of  Eichstadt,  in  Bavaria. 
This  royal  family  of  saints  issuing  from  England  to  convert 
Germany,  doubtless  now  protects  the  Benedictine  efforts  in 
America,  and  we  hope  ere  long  that  churches  will  rise  in  Penn- 
sylvania under  the  name  of  St.  Walburga,  the  noble  princess, 
self-exiled,  like  the  Bavarian  nuns  of  St.  Benedict,  in  order  to 
devote  herself  afar  to  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Thus  Pennsylvania,  where  in  1730  Father  Josiah  Greaton,  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  furtively  entered  in  the  disguise  of  a 
Quaker,  and  where  he  was  the  only  missionary  exercising  the 
holy  ministry,  is  now  divided  into  three  dioceses,  containing,  in 
1855,  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  churches,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  ecclesiastics.  Besides  the  secular  clergy,  eight 
religious  orders  of  men,  and  seven  communities  of  women, 
devote  themselves  either  to  parish  duties,  preaching,  or  the 
instruction  of  youth.  On  one  side  are  the  Jesuits,  the  Au- 
gustinians,  the  Redemptorists,  the  Lazarists,  the  Benedictines, 
the  Passionists,  the  Franciscan  Brothers,  and  the  Brothers  of  the 
Christian  Schools;  on  the  other,  are  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of 
Emmetsburg,  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph  of  Puy,  the  Ladies  of  the  Good  Shepherd  from  Angers, 

*  Faber— Lives  of  the  English  Saints  :  London,  1844  ;  Butler's  Lives  of 
the  Saints. 

14 


1      ^ 


H 


814 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Sisters  of  Mercy  from  Dublin,  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  and 
Benedictine  nuns  from  Bavaria.  In  spite  of  obstacles,  poverty, 
hostility  of  men,  these  institutes  prosper  and  take  root ;  the 
building  of  churches,  far  from  abating,  increases ;  every  day 
gives  our  Church  new  conquests ;  and  the  progress  of  Catholicity 
in  Pennsylvania  is  only  a  prelude  of  those  which  a  future,  fast 
approaching,  prepares  for  it  with  God's  grace.*  , 


CHAPTER   XX. 

STATE    OF   NEW   YORK (1642-1708). 

Missions  among  the  Iroquois— Father  Jognes— Father  Bressanl— Father  Le  Moyne— 
Emigration  of  Christians  to  Canada— Close  of  the  Jesuit  Missions  in  New  York. 

When  the  Jesuit  Father  Andrew  White  landed  in  Maryland 
in  1634  with  the  colony  of  Sir  George  Calvert,  the  Dutch  were 
already  planted  on  that  part  of  the  American  coast  now  com- 
prised in  the  State  of  New  York ;  but  the  English  missionaries 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  too  few  to  meet  the  religious  wants 
of  Maryland,  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  within  the  borders  of 
New  Netherland,  and  the  first  Catholic  priest?  who  trod  its  soil 
were  the  French  Jesuits  from  Canada.  In  1608  the  English 
captain,  Henry  Hudson,  sailing  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company,  discovered  New  York  Bay  and  the  beautiful 
river  which  still  bears  his  name.    The  same  year,  Samuel  Chara- 


*  For  what  we  have  said  of  the  three  dioceses  of  Pennsylvania,  we  have 
been  fortunate  enough  to  receive  important  information  from  Bishops 
O'Connor  and  Young,  and  Archbishop  Kenrick,  and  we  now  express  to 
these  venerable  prelates  our  sincere  gratitude. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STA'l 


816 


plain,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France,  founded  Quebec,  and 
in  1615  brought  over  some  Recollects  to  labor  in  converting  the 
Indians.  The  Algonquins,  the  Montagnais,  and  the  Hurons, 
were  soon  evangelized  by  these  religious,  as  well  as  by  the  Jesuits 
who  joined  them  in  1625.  The  Hurons  from  the  outset  showed 
a  friendship  for  the  French,  which  has  never  cooled ;  and  the 
colonists  of  Canada  became  by  this  simple  fact  the  enemies  of 
the  five  Iroquois  nations  who  dwelt  scattered  over  the  northern 
part  of  the  present  State  of  New  York,  between  the  Hudson  and 
Lake  Erie.  The  Iroquois,  continually  at  war  with  the  Hurons, 
constantly  bore  oflf  prisoners,  whom  they  tortured  to  death,  and 
in  the  same  way  a  priest  was  dragged  in  captivity  to  the  banks 
of  the  Mohawk,  in  the  very  neighborhood  of  where  Albany  now 
stands. 

In  1642  Father  Isaac  Jogues  was  proceeding  from  Quebec  to 
the  Huron  country,  where  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  mission 
for  over  six  years,  when  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  party  of  Iro- 
quois as  he  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence.  These  Indians  led  him 
a  captive  to  their  village  with  young  Ren6  Goupil,  a  holy  young 
man,  who  had  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  missions,  and 
who  was  called  from  this  fact  a  "  donn6."  The  brave  Goupil, 
after  courageously  enduring  the  most  cruel  tortures,  was  put  to 
death  for  having  been  seen  teaching  a  child  to  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross.*  As  to  Father  Jogues,  he  remained  for  fifteen  months 
among  the  Mohawks,  and  had  daily  new  martyrdoms  to  undergo 
at  the  hands  of  those  savages.    They  successively  cut  ofi",  joint 


ire  have 
Jishops 
aress  to 


*  Ren6  Goupil,  or  Good  R4n6,  as  the  missionaries  called  him,  was  born  at 
Angiera,  and  studied  medicine.  He  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  as  a 
novice,  but  his  health  did  not  permit  him  to  remain.  On  recovering,  he  gave 
himself  to  the  Canada  mission,  and  rendered  great  service  by  nursing  the 
sick  and  in  aiding  the  Fathers  as  a  catechist.  He  was  put  to  death  on  the 
29th  of  September,  1642,  and  Father  Jogues  calls  him  "  A  martyr  not  only 
of  obedience,  but  also  of  the  faith  and  the  cross."  (Shea's  History  of  the 
CiiUiolic  Missions,  p.  210.) 


w 


1 1 


816 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


by  joint,  almost  all  his  fingers  on  both  hands ;  they  mutilated  in 
the  same  way  his, feet  by  tearing  the  very  flesh  with  their  teeth, 
and  applied  red-hot  irons  to  different  parts  of  his  body.  The 
Jesuit  had  several  opportunities  of  escaping  to  the  Dutch  Fort 
Orange,  now  the  city  of  Albany  ;  but  as  long  as  he  had  around 
him  Huron  prisoners  to  assist  in  their  torments,  he  would  not 
escape  from  his  tortures.  At  last  Father  Jogues,  being  left 
almost  the  sole  survivor  of  the  band,  listened  to  the  generous 
proposals  of  the  Dutch,  who  paid  his  ransom  after  he  had  escaped 
from  the  hands  of  the  Mohawks.  The  Dutch  minister  at  Fort 
Orange,  Dominie  John  Megapolensis,  nursed  tht  missionary  with 
touching  compassion.  At  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York, 
Governor  Kieft  received  Father  Jogues  with  marks  of  distinction, 
and  gave  him  a  passage  in  the  first  vessel  for  Europe ;  but  the 
vessel,  shattered  by  a  storm  on  the  coast  of  England,  was  plun- 
dered by  wreckers,  who  stripped  the  Jesuit  and  his  companions. 
At  Falmouth  he  took  passage  on  »\  collier's  bark,  and  landed  in 
Brittany,  near  St.  Pol  de  Leon,  on  Christmas-day,  1643. 

In  a  rude  sailor's  coat,  dragging  himself  along  with  pain,  lean- 
ing on  a  staff,  the  venerable  Jesuit  was  no  longer  recognized. 
Hospitality  was  no  less  cordially  extended  to  him  in  a  peasant's 
humble  cot ;  here  he  was  invited  to  share  their  morning  meal, 
but  the  missionary's  only  thought  was  to  celebrate  duly  the  fes- 
tival by  receiving  the  Eucharist,  and  he  had  the  nearest  church 
pointed  out  to  him,  where  he  had  the  happiness  of  approaching  the 
altar.  For  sixteen  months  the  pious  religious  had  been  deprived 
of  communion.  The  good  Bretons  lent  him  a  hat  and  a  little  cloak 
to  appear  more  decently  in  church.  They  thought  him  to  be 
one  of  those  unfortunate  children  of  Catholic  Erin  whom  persecu- 
tion frequently  drove  to  the  shores  of  France ;  but  when,  on  his 
return  from  Mass,  his  charitable  hosts  saw  the  horrible  condi- 
tion of  his  hands,  Father  Jogues  was  compelled  to  satisfy  their 
pious  curiosity  by  relating  modestly  his  history,  and  the  peasants 


He 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES.  flf 

of  Leon  fell  at  his  feet  overwhelmed  with  pity  and  admiration. 
He  himself  relates  how  the  young  girls,  moved  by  his  account  of 
his  misfortunes,  gave  him  their  little  alms.  "  They  came,"  says 
he,  "  with  so  much  generosity  and  modesty  to  oft'er  me  two  or 
three  pence,  which  was  probably  all  their  treasure,  that  I  was 
moved  to  tears."  A  native  of  the  spot  where  this  touching  scene 
took  place,  we  hope  to  be  pardoned  for  relating  it  at  length. 

Father  Jogues  did  not  employ  his  captivity  solely  in  his  own 
sanctification ;  he  celebrated  seventy  baptisms  among  the  Mo- 
hawks, and  heard  the  confessions  of  the  Huron  prisoners.  At 
New  Amsterdam  he  found  two  Catholics — a  Portuguese  woman 
and  an  Irishman — whose  confessions  he  heard,  and  it  was  the 
first  time  that  the  sacrament  of  penance  was  administered  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  which  now  contains  twenty-three  Catholic 
churches.  In  France  the  fellow-religious  of  Father  Jogues,  who 
had  supposed  him  dead,  received  him  with  transports  of  joy ;  the 
queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  rushed  to  kiss  the  mutilated  hands  of  the 
martyr,  and  the  Pope  granted  him  a  special  dispensation  to  cele- 
brate Mass,  saying  "  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  refuse  a  martyr  of 
Jesus  Christ  the  privilege  of  drinking  the  blood  of  Christ" — "  in- 
dignum  esset  Christi  martyrem  Christi  non  bibere  sanguinem."* 
They  wished  to  retain  him  in  France,  but  Father  Jogues  sighed 
after  his  American  missions,  and  returned  to  Canada  in  1645. 
He  took  part  in  the  negotiations  for  peace  between  the  Hurons 
and  the  Mohawks,  and  conceived  great  hopes  of  converting  the 
Five  Nations.  He  was  accordingly,  at  his  own  request,  sent  to 
the  Mohawks — the  Agniers  of  the  Canadian  writers — to  found  a 
mission ;  but  scarcely  had  he  approached  their  village  than  he 


*  Father  Jogues  landed  in  Brittany  on  the  25th  of  December,  1643.  Pope 
Urban  VIII.  died  on  the  7th  of  July,  1644,  and  Pope  Innocent  X.  was  elected 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1644.  It  was,  therefore,  in  all  probability,  Urban 
VIII.  who  granted  Father  Jogues  the  glorious  dispensation  rendered  tiecea- 
eary  by  his  mutilation. 


818 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


wa«  treacherously  seized,  together  with  John  Lalande,  his  faithful 
companion,  and  the  next  day  both  received  the  nujitai  blow. 
The  head  of  Father  Joguea,  severed  from  the  body,  was  set  up 
on  one  of  the  village  palisades,  and  his  body  cast  into  Caughna- 
waga  Creek.  Thus,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1646,  perished  the 
first  missionary  who  bore  the  cross  within  the  territory  of  New 
York,  and  his  blood  has  not  been  shed  in  vain  for  the  faith.  New 
Amsterdam,  where  Father  Jogues  found  two  Catholics,  is  now 
the  See  of  an  archbishop ;  Albany  is  a  bishopric ;  and  near  the 
spot  where  he  received  his  death-blow  rises  the  city  of  Schenec- 
tady, where  St.  Mary's  Church  daily  sees  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
offered  to  heaven  for  the  salvation  of  mankind.* 

Before  the  death  of  Father  Jogues,  another  missionary  was 
dragged  into  Mohawk  bondage.  This  was  Father  Bressani,  who 
likewise,  on  his  way  to  the  Huron  country,  in  the  month  of  April, 
1644,  fell  into  the  hands  of  these  savage  enemies.  He  had  to 
undergo  the  same  torments  from  those  barbarous  executioners, 
who  cut  off  nine  of  his  ten  fingers,  and  after  four  months  of  tor- 
ment of  every  kind,  sold  him  to  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Orange.  They 
treated  him  kindly,  and  sent  him  to  France.  Father  Bressani 
landed  at  Isle  Rhe,  but  returned  to  Canada  in  the  month  of 
July,  1645,  and  labored  for  five  years  more  among  the  Hurons, 
till  the  extinction  of  the  Huron  mission.  He  wrote  a  history  of 
it  in  Italian,!  and  we  know  nothing  more  fitted  to  melt  the 


*  Isaac  Jogues  was  born  at  Orleans  on  the  10th  of  January,  1607.  Ho  en- 
tered the  Society  of  Jesus  at  Bouen  in  1624,  and  was  sent  to  Canada  in  1626. 
In  love  of  suffering,  tender  piety  to  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  Blessed  Vir- 
gin, he  has  ftcldom  been  surpassed. 

t  "Breve  relatione  d'alcuni  Mii-siono,"  etc.,  printed  at  Macerata,  Statos  of 
the  Church,  in  1653,  and  dedicated  to  Cardinal  de  Lugo.  A  French  trnnsla- 
tion  of  it,  with  a  valuable  biography  and  notes,  was  published  at  Montreal  in 
1852,  by  the  learned  Father  Felix  Martin,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  President 
of  St.  Mary's  College.  Father  Bressani  was  born  at  Rome,  and  entered  the 
Society  of  Jesus  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  He  came  to  Canada  in  1644,  and  on 
his  recall  to  Italy  in  1650,  devoted  many  years  to  giving  missions.    He  died 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


819 


heait  of  a  Christian,  to  fsxcite  piety,  and  animate  the  fervor  by 
the  recital  of  the  toucliing  conversion  of  the  Indians,  and  by  the 
acts  of  the  martyrdom  of  their  holy  apostles.  We  seem  to  recog- 
nize the  scenes  of  the  primitive  Church,  beholding  on  one  side 
BO  much  purity,  simple  and  trusting  faith  in  the  catechumens ; 
on  the  other,  so  much  courage  and  unshaken  firmness  in  the 
missionaries  when  the  Iroquois  burst  upon  them.  We  even  feel 
ourselves  more  sensible  to  the  sufferings  of  our  modern  martyrs, 
Brebeuf,  Lalemand,  Daniel,  Chabanel,  Menard,  than  we  are  to 
the  torments  of  a  St.  Bartholomew  or  St.  Agatha.  For  the 
latter,  the  halo  of  immortal  glory  which  environs  them,  the 
difference  of  manners,  and  the  remote  period  which  witnessed 
their  labors  and  sufferings,  prevent  our  being  especially  touched ; 
but  human  nature  shudders  at  the  torments  endured  without  a 
murmur  and  without  shrinking  by  victims  so  near  our  own  t'  les, 
speaking  our  own  language,  whose  handwriting  and  memorials 
we  can  yet  touch  and  handle. 

The  massacre  of  Father  Jogues  in  1646  was  the  signal  of  new 
wars  on  the  part  of  the  Iroquois,  and  their  war  parties  overspread 
Canada,  sowing  desolation  and  terror  around  them.  In  1663 
Quebec  was  in  a  manner  besieged  by  these  Indians,  and  the 
wretched  inhabitants  were  menaced  by  famine,  not  daring  to 
venture  beyond  the  fort  to  reap  their  harvest.  At  the  sight  of 
this  misery  one  of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Poncet,  encouraged  some 
harvesters  to  go  to  the  field  of  a  poor  woman,  himself  leading  the 
way ;  but  he  was  at  once  taken  prisoner  by  the  Mohawks,  who 
led  him  to  their  villages,  subjecting  him  to  cruel  tortures.  A 
change  in  the  policy  of  the  Mohawks,  however,  soon  led  them  to 
desire  peace  with  the  French,  and  they  restored  Father  Poncet  to 
liberty  in  order  to  conciliate  the  missionary.    The  latter  returned 


at  Florence  on  the  9th  of  September,  1672.  During  his  captivity  he  was 
able  to  baptize  only  one— a  captive  Huron  at  the  stake.  (Shea'a  Catholic 
MisBionn,  pp.  198-212.) 

11* 


320 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


to  Canada,  after  visiting  the  Dutch  at  Fort  Orange,  where  he 
heard  the  confession  of  several  Catholics.  Father  Joseph  An- 
thony Poncet  de  la  Riviere,  born  at  Paris  about  1610,  studied  at 
Rome,  and  came  to  Canada  in  1639.  After  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel to  the  Hurons  for  six  years,  and  being  long  pastor  of  Quebec, 
he  was  recalled  to  France  in  165*7,  and  resided  for  some  time  in 
Brittany.  We  find  him  next  at  Loretto,  Penitentiary  of  the 
French ;  but  his  zeal  could  not  endure  this  sedentary  life,  and 
Father  Poncet  obtained  an  appointment  to  the  mission  of  Mar- 
tinique, where  he  died  in  1675,  leaving  a  remarkable  reputation 
for  science,  talents,  and  sanctity. 

Another  Iroquois  nation,  the  Onondagas,*  also  asked  peace  at 
this  period,  expressing  their  desire  to  have  missionaries.  To 
judge  of  their  dispositions,  Father  Simon  le  Moyne  left  Quebec 
for  their  canton  on  the  2d  of  July,  1654.  Arriving  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Oswego  river,  he  ascended  it  to  the  Onondaga  village,  and 
was  welcomed  by  the  tribe.  His  presence  especially  filled  with 
joy  the  numerous  Huron  Christians  captive  among  the  Iroquois, 
and  all  recognized  in  him  one  of  their  former  missionaries. 
Father  le  Moyne  enabled  many  of  these  poor  exiles  to  partake 
of  the  sacraments ;  he  baptized  children,  and  even  adults,  who 
had  been  prepared  for  this  grace  by  their  Huron  prisoners. 
Achiongeras,  one  of  the  chiefs,  was  the  most  zealous  of  the  neo- 
phytes, and  received  the  name  of  John  Baptist.  In  the  month 
of  September  Father  le  Moyne  returned  to  Quebec  to  give  an 
account  of  the  hopes  of  the  mission,  and  announcing  the  speedy 
coming  of  an  Onondaga  embassy.  But  the  war  which  the  Fries 
were  waging  on  them  delayed  the  departure  of  the  Onondaga 
envoys,  who  reached  Quebec  in  the  summer  of  1655.     Their 

*  The  Five  Nations  of  Iroquois  have  left  their  names  in  the  State  of  New 
York— in  the  Mohawk  river,  and  the  lakes  and  counties  of  Oneida,  Onon- 
daga, Cayuga,  and  Seneca,  which  will  perpetuate  the  residence  of  those 
clans  and  the  labors  of  the  Catholic  missionaries. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


321 


good  dispositions  and  promises  excited  the  confidence  of  the 
Jesuit  Superior,  and  he  appointed  Father  Claude  Dablon  and 
Peter  Chaumonot*  to  found  a  permanent  mission  on  the  banks 
of  the  lake  where  the  city  of  Syracuse  now  rises.  On  the  18th 
of  November,  1655,  they  began  the  construction  of  St.  Mary's 
Chapel,  the  first  church  where  the  Holy  Sacrifice  was  ever  offered 
in  the  State  of  New  York  The  Indians  cheeifully  aided  in  rais- 
ing this  sylvan  shrine,  and  schools  were  soon  opened  at  Onon- 
daga, where  whole  choirs  of  girls  were  trained  to  chant  the 
hymns  of  Christianity.  Meanwhile,  as  the  nation  desired  a 
French  colony  to  protect  them  against  the  Eries,  Father  Dablon 
returned  to  Quebec  in  May,  1656,  to  make  known  to  the  gov- 
ernor the  dispositions  of  the  Indians. 

The  recital  of  the  missionary  produced  a  great  impression,  and 
on  the  l7th  of  May,  1656,  he  set  out  again  for  Onondaga,  with 
Fathers  le  Mercier  and  Rene  Menard,f  and  Brothers  Ambrose 
Broar  and  Joseph  Boursier.  Captain  Dupuis,  with  some  soldiers, 
formed  part  of  the  convoy,  and  were  sent  to  build  a  fort  near  the 
Jesuit  mission.     Onondaga  then  became  the  centre  of  the  labors 


*  Claude  Dablon  came  to  Canada  in  1655.  In  1661  he  accompanied  Father 
Druillettea  in  his  overland  expedition  to  Hudson's  Bay.  In  1668  he  was 
on  Lake  Superior  with  Father  Marquette,  and  became  Superior  of  all  the 
missions  in  1670.     He  was  still  alive  in  1694. 

Peter  Mary  Joseph  Chaumonot,  born  in  1611,  near  Chatillon-sur-Seine, 
entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  at  Rome  in  1632.  He  came  to  Canada  in  1639, 
and  was  sent  to  the  Huron  mission,  where  he  remained  till  1650.  He  died 
at  Isle  Orleans,  near  Quebec,  in  1693.     (Shea's  Catholic  Missions,  pp.  98-241.) 

*  Father  Francis  le  Mercier  arrived  in  Canada  in  1635,  and  was  connected 
with  the  Huron  mission  till  its  ruin  in  1650.  He  was  still  in  Canada  in  1670, 
but  subsequently  went  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  died  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity. 

Father  Ken^  Menard,  born  in  1C14,  in  France,  came  to  Canada  in  1640, 
labored  among  the  Hurons  and  Algonquins,  and  died  of  hunger  or  exhaus- 
tion in  the  woods  of  Upper  Michigan  in  August,  1661. 

Father  Paul  Eagueneau,  born  at  Paris  in  1605,  arrived  in  Canada  in  1636. 
After  being  attached  to  the  Huron  mission  and  being  Superior  at  Quebec,  he 
returned  to  Paris  to  fill  the  post  of  Procurator,  and  died  in  1680. 

14* 


322 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


of  the  Fathers.  The  Cayugas,  Oneidas,  and  tSenecas  were  iu 
turn  evangelized,  and  conversions  everywhere  rewarded  the  mis- 
sionaries for  their  toil,  at  the  same  time  that  Huron  prisoners, 
scattered  among  the  tribes,  received  with  joy  the  consolations  of 
religion.  In  the  month  of  July,  1657,  two  more  Jesuits  came 
from  Quebec  to  aid  the  Fathers,  who  were  sinking  under  their 
toil.  These  were  Father  Paul  Ragueneau  and  Father  Francis 
Duperon.*  But  a  change  was  soon  perceived  in  the  dispositions 
of  the  heathen  Iroquois,  who  still  formed  the  great  majority. 
Their  medicine  men  persuaded  them  that  baptism  destroyed 
their  children,  and  a  plot  was  formed  to  cut  ofl*  all  the  French. 
Warned  in  time,  the  missionaries  resolved  to  escape  from  their 
butchers,  and  on  the  20th  of  March,  1658,  after  giving  a  ban- 
quet to  the  tribe  to  lull  their  vigilance,  the  French  escaped  by 
night  in  boats  and  canoes  which  they  had  secretly  prepared,  and 
hastened  to  Canada  as  their  only  shelter  from  Indian  massacre. 
Thus  ended,  after  an  existence  of  three  years,  the  first  Onondaga 
mission,  and  we  shall  soon  see  it  arise  again  and  produce  new 
fruits  of  benediction. 

Father  Simon  le  Moyne  had  visited  the  Mohawks  in  the 
month  of  April,  1655,  and  after  imparting  the  sacraments  to  the 
captive  Hurons,  he  had  continued  his  journey  to  Fort  Orange  and 
New  Amsterdam,  where  the  crews  of  two  French  ships  had 
recourse  to  his  ministry.  During  the  next  two  years,  Le  Moyne 
again  braved  the  perfidious  cruelty  of  the  Mohawks.  Constantly 
menaced  with  death,  constantly  baffling  the  plots  formed  against 
his  life,  he  never  lost  courage  in  his  labors  among  the  captives, 
and  flattered  himself  with  being  able  to  smooth  the  way  for  a 
sedentary  mission.  But  in  the  month  of  August,  1657,  he  was 
retained  captive  by  the  tribe,  and  would  have  had  the  glory  of 
martyrdom  had  not  the  Governor  of  Canada,  D'Ailleboust,  seized 

*  Father  Francis  Duperon  arrived  in  Canada  iu  1638,  and  died  at  Cham- 
bly,  November  10,  1665, 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


323 


all  the  Iroquois  in  Canada  as  hostages.    Restored  to  liberty 
in  the  month  of  May,  1658,  Father  le  Moyne  returned  to  Mon- 
treal, and  during  the  next  two  years  the  Five  Nations  carried  on 
a  most  furious  war  against  the  French  in  Canada  and  their  allies. 
The  Onondagas  were  the  first  to  ask  for  peace,  thanks  to  the 
influence  exercised  over  them  by  the  chieftain  Garacontie,  the 
friend  of  the  missionaries.     He  saved  from  death  all  the  French 
captives  whom  he  could  rescue  from  the  stake ;  he  had  preserved 
intact  the  chapel  of  St.  Mary's,  and  permitted  the  Huron  prison- 
ers to  assemble  there  to  chaii'  hymns  and  recite  their  Loads.     In 
1660  a  peaceful  embassy  sent  by  Garacontie  arrived  at  Montreal, 
and  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  opening,  the  unwearied  Father  le 
Moyne  set  out  for  the  Onondaga  country,  where  he  concluded 
peace  with  the  tribe.     He  profited  by  his  short  stay  to  baptize  two 
hundred  children,  and  returned  to  Montreal  in  the  month  of  August, 
1661.     This  was  his  last  missionary  excursion  to  the  land  of  the 
Iroquois.    He  died  at  Cap  de  la  Madeleine  in  1665,  and  must 
deserve  our  veneration  as  the  successor  of  the  martyred  Jogues, 
the  first  missionary  who  of  his  free  choice  proceeded  to  the  wig- 
wams of  the  terrible  Mohawks.    In  spite  of  the  praiseworthy 
efforts  of  Garacontie,  war  continued  to  ravage  the  fields  of  Can- 
ada, and  it  was  only  on  the  31st  of  August,  1666,  that  peace 
was  signed  at  Quebec,  with  all  the  nations  except  the  Mohawk, 
ever  sullen  as  the  bear,  whose  name  he  bore.    But  now  isolated, 
this  tribe  was  vigorously  chastised  in  a  campaign  which  the 
Viceroy  de  Tracy  made  against  them,  and  they  at  last  agreed  to 
lay  down  their  arms,  asking  for  missionaries. 

The  Jesuits,  who  awaited  this  moment  with  a  holy  impatience, 
hastened  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  Iroquois,  and  in  the  month 
of  July,  1667,  Fathers  Fremin,  Bruyas,  and  Pierron  left  Canada 
for  the  Mohawk  country.  The  last  was  soon  left  alone,  while  his 
associates  proceeded  to  the  more  westerly  cantons;  but  in  1668 
Father  Francis  Boniface  came  to  second  Father  Pierron,  and 


i.fi 


|i 


324 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


conversions  became  so  frequent  among  the  terrible  Mohawks — re- 
alizing a  vision  of  Father  Jogues,  in  which  he  saw  the  words 
"Laudent  nomen  Agni" — that  Father  Thierry  Beschefer  and 
Father  Louis  Nicolas  were  sent  to  their  assistance.  At  this 
epoch  Father  Julian  Garnier  was. preaching  the  Gospel  to  the 
Onondagas.  Father  Stephen  de  Carheil  was  among  the  Cayugas, 
where  he  built  the  chapel  of  St.  Joseph.  Father  Bruyas  had 
his  residence  among  the  Oneidas,  and  Father  Pierron  among 
the  Senecas,  while  Fathers  ]\Iilet  and  Fremin  repaired  from  town 
to  town,  distributing  the  benefits  of  their  apostolate  on  the 
various  tribes  of  the  league.*  We  may  say  that  in  1668  the 
cross  towered  above  the  five  Iroquois  cantons,  and  for  sixteen 
years  Canadian  missionaries  succeeded  each  other  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  present  State  of  New  York.  But  it  was  especially 
among  the  Mohawks  that  the  Jesuits  obtained  the  most  con- 
verts; and  in  1673  the  two  principal  villages,  Caughnawaga  and 
Tinniontoguen,  were  organized  as  regular  parishes,  where 
schools  were  opened  for  the  young,  while  the  course  of  religious 
instruction  was  graduated  for  the  difierent  ages  and  brought 
within  the  reach  of  the  feeblest  minds. 

*  Father  James  Fremin,  whom  we  find  among  the  Iroquois  in  1656,  was 
employed  there  many  years,  and  died  at  Quebec  in  1692. 

Father  James  Bruyas,  born  apparently  at  Lyons,  arrived  at  Quebec  in 
1666,  and  in  the  following  year  visited  the  Iroquois  country.  He  was  alive 
in  1703. 

Father  Julian  Garnier,  born  at  Connerai,  in  the  diocese  of  Mans,  about 
1648,  arrived  in  Canada  in  1662,  being  still  a  scholastic.  He  was  ordained  in 
1666,  and  was  yet  alive  in  1722. 

Father  Stephen  de  Carheil  arrived  from  France  in  1656,  and  remained 
among  the  Cayugas  till  1684,  and  was  then  sent  to  the  Ottawa  mission.  He 
died  at  Quebec  in  1726. 

Father  Francis  Boniface  died  at  Quebec  in  1674. 

According  to  a  printed  list  of  Canadian  clergy.  Father  Louis  Nicolas 
arrived  in  1656,  and  died  in  1682.  Father  Thierry  Beschefer  arrived  in 
1686,  and  died  in  1691,  but  the  Jesuit  Journal,  which  is  conclusive  on  the 
point,  makes  the  former  arrive  in  1664  and  the  latter  in  1665. 

Father  Milet  arrived  in  1667,  was  a  prisonor  at  Oneida  from  1689  to  1694, 
au<l  died  in  1711. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


325 


Still  it  was  only  a  minority  of  the  nation  which  had  the  hap- 
piness of  opening  its  eyes  to  the  light  of  the  faith,  and  the 
majority  of  the  Mohawks  remained  obstinate  in  their  idolatry 
and  in  that  disregard  of  morality  which  Catholicity  alone  can 
overcome.  The  virtue  of  the  Christians  was  incessantly  exposed 
to  the  greatest  perils  amid  the  depravation  of  the  villages,  ren- 
dered more  frightful  by  the  abuse  of  spirituous  liquors  which  the 
Dutch  supplied.  The  neophytes  frequently  met,  too,  cruel  per- 
secutions in  their  own  families ;  and  to  shelter  them  from  these 
trials  and  dangerous  temptations,  the  missionaries  resolved  to 
found  a  Reduction  in  Canada,  under  the  protection  of  France, 
composing  it  entirely  of  Christian  Indians.  The  first  establish- 
ment took  place  in  1669  at  La  Prairie,  near  Montreal,  and  Father 
Peter  Raffeix  built  the  church  of  St.  Francois  Xavier  des  Pres. 
A  pious  squaw  of  the  Erie  nation  who  had  been  adopted  by  the 
Oneidas,  and  whose  name  was  Catharine  Ganneaktena,  was  the 
first  to  settle  there  with  her  family,  and  she  drew  so  many 
Indians  around  her  that  in  1670  the  village  numbered  twenty 
families,  comprising  sixty  persons.  The  missionaries  who  suc- 
cessively ministered  among  the  Mohawks  from  1675  to  1681, 
Father  James  de  L'ambervilk  Father  Bruyas,  and  Father  Vail- 
lant  de  Gueslis,  favored  this  ei  ligration  with  all  their  powers,* 
and  when  all  the  Christians  had  left  the  Mohawk  territory,  the 
Jesuits  retired  with  them  to  Canada.  The  numbers  of  these 
good  Indians  led  to  a  change  of  the  site  of  the  Reduction,  the 
lands  at  La  Prairie  not  being  adapted  to  support  so  many,  and 


*  Father  Peter  Raffeix  arrived  in  1668,  and  never  left  America.  In  170S 
we  find  him  still  at  Quebec,  worn  by  age  and  infirmities. 

Father  James  de  Lamberville  arrived  in  1673,  and  died  in  1718  (Quebec 
list). 

Father  Vaillant  de  GuesHs  arrived  in  1675,  died  in  1698  (Quebec  list);  but 
thia  is  another  example  of  the  inaccuracy  of  this  list.  Charlevoix  says  that 
Father  Vaillant  was  among  the  Senecas  in  1704,  and  in  1711  he  celebrated  a 
luiirriage  at  La  Prairie,  near  Montreal.  -* 


326 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


in  1676  the  mission  was  transported  some  leagues  up  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Sault  St.  Louis,  or  Caughnawaga,  where  the  church 
of  St.  Francis  Xavier  du  Sault  was  built  by  the  Iroquois.  Even 
now  the  village  is  occupied  exclusively  by  the  descendants  of 
these  Indians,  who  adhere  inviolably  to  the  faith  of  their  pilgrim 
sires,  transmitted,  without  interruption,  for  near  two  hundred 
years. 

The  admirable  fervor  of  the  first  converts  was  a  subject  of  edi- 
fication for  the  missionaries  themselves ;  and  the  example  of 
Catharine  Tehgahwita  proves  what  faith  can  do  to  elevate  a  sav- 
age nature  to  an  eminent  degree  of  sanctity.  This  maiden,  born 
in  1656,  and  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  four,  felt  from  child- 
hood a  strong  attachment  to  Catholicity,  and  even  before  receiv- 
ing baptism,  had  made  an  offering  of  her  virginity  to  God.  All 
the  persecutions  of  her  relatives  to  force  her  to  renounce  her 
generous  design  fell  harmless  before  her  stem  resolution ;  she 
received  holy  baptism  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  then,  in  or- 
der to  give  herself  entirely  to  the  exercise  of  her  piety,  she  emi- 
grated, in  1677,  to  the  Reduction  of  Sault  St.  Louis,  in  Canada  ; 
there  she  lived  three  years  in  austerity  and  the  practice  of  the 
most  sublime  virtues,  and  died  in  1660,  leaving  a  memory  which 
is  still  in  veneration,  not  only  among  her  tribe,  but  throughout 
Canada.  "We  find  in  the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes  et  Curieuses"  a 
sketch  of  the  life  of  this  Christian  virgin,  abridged  by  Father 
Cholenec  from  a  still  existing  manuscript  life  composed  by  her 
confessor.  Father  Chauchetiere.  Father  Cholenec  relates  the  pil- 
grimages which  were  made  at  her  tomb,  and  the  miraculous 
cures  obtained  by  her  intercession,  and  gives  at  length  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Rev.  Mr.  de  la  Colombiere,  Canon  of  Quebec,  and  of 
Captain  du  Lud,  Governor  of  Fort  Frontenac,  both  cured  by  the 
invocation  of  the  venerable  Catharine.  Many  other  graces  obtained 
by  her  intercession  have  long  made  the  Canadians  desire  to  see 
the  process  of  her  beatification  begun. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


327 


It  is  the  first  time  that  we  have  had  occasion  to  cite 
the  "  Lettres  Edifiantes,"  and  in  fact  that  precious  collection, 
begun  by  Father  Charles  Legobien  in  1704,  and  continued  after 
him  by  Father  J.  B.  du  Halde,  speaks  only  incidentally  of  the 
missions  of  the  seventeenth  century.  These  last,  so  far  as  North 
America  is  concerned,  are  recounted  in  the  rare  collection  of 
"  Jesuit  Relations,"  a  series  of  forty  volumes,  giving  the  history 
of  the  French  missions  in  Canada  for  the  years  1611,  1626,  and 
from  l!  32  to  1672.  But  it  is,  so  to  speak,  impossible  to  obtain 
these  Relations,  and  the  years  1654-5  and  1658-9  are  not  known 
to  exist.*  It  seems  that  the  government  in  Canada  took  offence 
at  the  narrative  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  suppressed  in  France 
the  volumes  already  published,  forbidding  their  further  impres- 
sion. However,  the  Relations  for  the  years  1673  to  1679  still 
exist  in  manuscript  at  Rome  or  in  Canada,  and  Shea,  who  care- 
fully studied  the  whole  collection,  has  ably  selected  all  the  im- 
portant facts  in  his  admirable  "  History  of  the  Catholic  Missions 
among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States."  The  present 
Canadian  government,  more  enlightened  than  its  predecessor  in 
1672,  has  recently  voted  funds  to  reprint  the  complete  series  of 
the  Relations.  This  will  be  an  eminent  service  rendered  to  the 
cause  of  history  and  religion. 

*  A  learned  bibliophile  of  New  York,  James  Lenox,  Esq.,  has  enriched 
his  collection  with  thoae  two  rare  volumes.  He  has  also  had  the  happy  idea 
of  reprinting  a  small  edition  of  the  Relations  of  1655-76,  and  of  the  Rela- 
tion of  Father  Gabriel  Druillettes  to  New  England  in  1650,  and  the  Relation 
of  the  Travels  and  Discoveries  of  Father  James  Marquette  during  1673  and 
tlie  following  jears.  By  a  refinement  of  typographic  exactitude,  Mr.  Lenox 
has  made  these  editions  a  complete  reproduction  of  the  originals  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  He  has  had  type,  head,  and  tail-pieces,  so  that  the  vol- 
umes due  to  his  taste  seem  to  the  most  practised  eye  to  have  been  printed 
two  centuries  age.    It  is,  as  Boileau  says, 

"  Aux  Saumalses  futura  preparer  des  tortures." 
The  gentleman  who  thus  devotes  his  taste  to  the  reproduction  of  the  Jesuit 
Relations  is  not  prompted,  as  some  imagine,  by  religious  feelings,  being  a  ue- 
voted  Presbyterian,  but  by  a  wish  to  preserve  what  is  rare  and  valuable  in 
an  historical  point  of  view. 


t   fe. 


328 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


While  emigration  to  Canada  led  to  the  close  of  the  mission 
in  the  Mohawk  territory,  causes  of  a  different  character  put  an 
end  to  the  labors  of  the  Jesuits  among  the  other  Iroquois  can- 
tons.    As  long  as  the  Dutch  remained  in  possession  of  New 
Netherland,  they  merely  traded  with  the  Five  Nations,  without 
pretending  to  obtain  of  them  any  act  of  submission  and  surren- 
der of  their  independence  ;  but  on  the  capture  of  New  York  by 
the  English  in  1664,  and  especially  on  the  arrival  of  Colonel 
Thomas  Dongan  as  governor  of  that  colony  in  168S,  a  far  differ- 
ent policy  presided  over  the  intercourse  between  the  English 
and  the  Iroquois.     Dongan,  considering  their  territory  as  form- 
ing part  of  the  territoi*^  of  New  York,  declared  himself  the 
protector  of  the  Five  Nations,  and  displayed  remarkable  ability 
in  ruining  the  French  influence  in  the  council  of  the  Iroquois 
league.     The  governor  directed  his  efforts  especially  to  expel 
the  Canadian  missionaries,  and   to   inspire   the   Indians    with 
greater  confidence,  he  promised  to  send  them  English  Jesuits, 
/  and  build  them  churches  in  their  cantons.     These  intrigues  suc- 
_     /    ceeded  with  the  simple  children  of  the  forest,  and  towards  the 
V^    close  of  1683  Father  Milet  had  to  abandon  his  Oneida  mission, 
/  ^  while  Father  Fremin,  Father  Pierron,  and  Father  Garnier  retired 
/         from  the  Seuecas.     The  next  year.  Father  de  Carheil,  after  being 
I  subjected  to  every  brutahty,  was  driven  from  the  castles  of  the 

Cayugas,  and  there  remains  d  only  the  two  brothers  John  and 
James  de  Lamberville,  the  riissionaries  at  Onondaga. 

These,  for  some  years  more,  baffled  all  Dongan's  threats  and 
the  resources  of  his  political  craft.  They  possessed  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Onondagas,  and  to  all  the  colonel's  injunctions  or- 
dering them  to  expel  the  French  Jesuits,  the  Onondagas  answered 
that  the  Fathers  did  no  injuiy.  But  what  England's  power 
xjould  not  effect,  became  the  consequence  of  the  crime  of  a 
French  governor.  In  168*7,  Jacques  Rene,  Marquis  de  Denonville, 
who  commanded  in  Canada,  received  orders  from  France  to  send 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


329 


over  a  certain  number  of  Iroquois  prisoners  to  be  put  in  the 
king's  galley^.  Unable  to  take  piisoneis  in  war,  the  governor 
had  recourse  to  treachery,  and  availed  himself  of  the  influence 
of  Father  John  de  Lamberville  among  the  Onondagas  to  induce 
those  Indians  to  come  to  a  grand  council  at  Cataracouy,  now 
Kingston.  But  as  soon  as  they  had  unsuspectingly  assembled, 
troops  surrounded  them  on  every  side ;  and  the  unhappy  victims 
of  this  trap  were  sent  to  France,  and  put  in  chains  in  the  gal- 
leys. At  the  news  of  this  crime,  indignation  rose  to  its  height 
in  the  cantons  of  the  league,  and  Father  John  de  Lamberville 
had  well-nigh  paid  with  his  life  an  act  of  which  he  was  guilt- 
less. The  sachems,  however,  knew  too  well  the  sanctity  of  their 
missionary  to  suspect  him  of  perfidy.  They  protected  his 
flight,  warning  him  that  they  could  not  answer  for  the  conduct 
of  the  young  braves,  when  once  they  had  chanted  the  war-song, 
and  urging  him  not  to  delay.  Such  was  the  sad  close  of  the 
mission  begun  twenty  years  before,  in  1667.* 

During  the  wars  which  ensued.  Father  Milet  was,  like  Jogues 
and  Bressani,  led  a  prisoner  to  the  country  of  the  Iroquois,  and 
for  several  years  was  detained  at  Oneida.  The  Iroquois  Chris- 
tians, who  had  emigrated  to  Canada,  showed  themselves  faithful 
allies  of  France,  and  behaved  with  rare  bravery  in  all  the  cam- 
paigns of  that  period.  But  this  conduct  drew  upon  them  the 
hatred  of  their  pagan  countrymen,  and  when  Christians  were 
made  prisoners,  they  were  subjected  to  the  cruellest  tortures. 
Some,  too,  not  taken  in  arms,  met  the  same  fate  for  refusing  to 


*  Count  Frontenac,  appointed  Governor  of  Canada  in  1689,  brought  back 
the  poor  Iroquois,  whose  liberation  from  the  galleys  he  had  obtained,  and 
did  liis  best  to  dissipate  in  the  minds  of  the  Five  Nations  the  etfect  of  his 
predecessor's  conduct.  The  Marquis  de  Denonville,  on  his  recall,  became 
sub-governor  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  vir- 
tues and  piety  in  that  honorable  post,  wliich  he  owed  to  the  friendship  of 
Bertuvilliers.  We  cannot  conceive  how,  by  a  transient  derangement,  he  could 
commit  such  a  flagrant  treachery  towards  poor  Indians. 


330 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


abuse  Christianity.  The  most  courageous  of  these  martyrs  were 
Stephen  de  Ganonakoa  and  Frances  Gononhatenha,  whose  con- 
stancy in  the  faith  of  their  baptism  drew  upon  them  a  truly  hor- 
rible treatment.  These  generous  neophytes  confessed  Jesus  cru- 
cified at  the  stake,  while  the  savages  tore  out  their  nails,  and 
roasted  or  slashed  their  bodies ;  and  to  every  question  which 
their  executioners  addressed  them,  they  answered,  to  their  latest 
sigh,  "  We  are  Christians."  All  the  tribes  did  not,  however, 
share  this  sanguinary  rage,  and  many  of  the  Iroquois  desired  to 
see  the  missionaries  return  amongst  them.  On  the  peace  of 
Ryswick  in  1697,  the  Jesuits  hoped  to  restore  their  missions,  in 
spite  of  the  intrigues  of  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  Governor  of  New 
York,  who  sent  the  Dutch  pastor  Dellius  to  preach  to  the  Mo- 
hawks. The  minister  failed  completely,  and  did  not  even  take 
up  his  residence  among  the  tribe  whom  he  was  commissioned  to 
convert.  The  governor  employed  all  means  to  keep  up  the  Iro- 
quois hostilities  against  Canada,  in  spite  of  the  treaty  signed  in 
Europe.  Maugre  his  efforts,  the  Five  Nations  concluded  a  sep- 
arate peace  with  Canada  in  1701.  Fathers  James  de  Lamber- 
ville,  Julian  Garnier,  and  Vaillant  du  Gueslis,  with  a  lay  brother, 
all  old  Iroquois  missionaries,  immediately  started  from  Quebec  to 
raise  their  fallen  altars  amid  the  Senecas  and  Onondagas.  Dep- 
utations of  these  tribes  had  called  for  the  Jesuits,  and  soon  after 
Fathers  James  d'Heu  and  Peter  Mareuil  joined  their  comrades 
in  New  York.* 

Father  Lamberville  was  escorted  to  Onondaga  by  the  Sieur  de 
Marecourt,  a  man  of  great  popularity  among  the  Indians,  and 
was  well  received,  only  one  family  opposing  him.     The  English 


*  Father  Jamea  d'Heu  arrived  from  France  in  1706,  and  waa  unfortunately 
drowned  in  1728  (Quebec  list).  However,  he  was  Superior  at  Montreal  in 
1729. 

Father  Peter  Mareuil  arrived  in  1706,  died  in  1747,  according  to  the  list 
of  Quebec ;  but  he  died  really  at  the  College  of  Louis  le  Grand,  at  Pariri,  in 
1742,  08  Charlevoix  assures  us. 


IN  THE 


UNITED  STATES. 


331 


governor  had  ordered  them  to  send  the  missionary  to  Albany ; 
but  disregarding  thi.-i,  they  allowed  Father  Latnberville  to  erect, 
his  house  and  chapel,  which  he  opened  with  a  solemn  Mass  and 
the  chant  of  thanksgiving,  Te  Deum. 

Among  the  Senecas,  Father  Gamier,  old  and  infirm,  after  re- 
storing the  mission,  left  Father  Vaillant  to  continue  the  active 
labors.    That  missionary  labored  earnestly  to  maintain  peace, 
and  as  long  as  he  remained,  thwarted  Schuyler's  plans  for  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  envoys  of  Catholicity.    He  was,  howevc,  suc- 
ceeded by  Father  d'Heu  in  the  following  year,  and  in  1709,  as 
war  was  about  to  break  out,  Abraham  Schuyler  repaired  to 
Onondaga,  and  by  expressing  his  pretended  regret  at  being  com- 
pelled to  rouse  the  Indians  to  war,  induced  Father  de  Lamberville 
to  hasten  to  Montreal  to  confer  with  Vaudreuil ;  then  working 
on  the  fears  of  Father  Mareuil,  he  got  some  drunken  Indians  to 
pillage  the  chapel  and  mission-house,  and  even  to  destroy  them 
by  fire.     On  this.  Father  Mareuil,  thinking  that  he  owed  his 
very  life  to  Schuyler,  agreed  to  accompany  him  to  Albany,  and 
wrote  to  Father  d'Heu,  at  Seneca,  to  accept  the  proffered  hospi- 
tality of  the  statesman  of  Albany.     Joncaire,  however,  a  French- 
man of  great  influence  with  the  Senecas,  prevented  any  violence 
there,  and  brought  Father  d'Heu  safely  to  Canada.    This  Father 
was  accordingly  the  last  actually  on  the  mission  among  the  In- 
dians, and  though  he  escaped  a  violent  death,  where  his  prede- 
cessors had  fallen,  he  became  soon  after  a  victim  of  his  zeal,  having 
been  drowred  while  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 

When  peace  was  restored  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  Louis 
XIV.  acknowledged  the  right  of  England  to  the  whole  territory 
occupied  by  the  Five  Nations,  and  thus  completely  closed  the 
entrance  to  the  cantons  on  the  missionaries  of  France. 

Yet  we  shall  find  in  1*748  the  Sulpitian,  Francis  Picquet, 
resume  the  work  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  found  within  the 
colony  of  New  York  the  Reduction  of  the  Presentation-     But 


332 


THB  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  history  of  this  zealous  man  will  be  given  hereafter.  The 
Apostohitc  of  the  Jesuits  began  with  Father  Jogucs  in  1042,  was 
carriod  on  at  intervals  for  over  sixty  years,  and  was  arrested,  not 
by  the  persecution  of  the  idolaters,  but  by  the  intolerance  of 
Protestantism,  which  would  not  suffer  the  children  of  Loyola  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  task  of  transforming  the  savages  into 
Christians.  The  blood  of  the  martyr  and  the  sufFering  of  the 
confessor  had  not  been  useless,  and  now  two  thousand  five  hun- 
dred Iroquois  at  Caughnawaga,  St.  Regis,  and  at  the  Lake  of 
the  Two  Mountains,  still  practise  Catholicity,  and  preserve  the 
name  of  their  sires,  while  many  other  tribes  have  disappeared 
forever,  destroyed  by  debauchery  and  war,  or  absorbed  in  the 
swelling  tide  of  white  immigration. 

It  may  be  asked  how  the  missionaries  proceeded  in  converting 
these  savage  tribes  ?  In  his  interesting  Relation,  Father  Bressani 
answers  this  question.  He  gives  in  some  sort  the  method 
which  succeeded  best  among  the  Hurons,  and  which  was  most 
probably  employed  among  the  Iroquois : 

"We  advance  the  motives  of  credibility  usually  assigned  by 
theologians;  those  which  answer  best  are  these  three:  The 
first  is  the  conformity  of  our  law  and  the  commandments  of 
God  with  the  light  of  reason.  The  faith  forbids  nothing  that 
reason  does  not  equally,  and  all  that  faith  commands  is  approved 
by  reason.  .  .  ,  Our  Indians  understand  and  discuss  well ; 
they  yield  frankly  to  sound  reasoning.  The  second  argument 
was  our  writings ;  I  allude  not  merely  to  the  Holy  Scripture, 
but  to  ordinary  writings.  By  this  argument  we  silenced  their 
false  prophets,  or  rather  charlatans.  They  have  neither  books 
nor  writings  of  any  kind.  When,  therefore,  they  told  us  their 
fables  of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  the  deluge,  of  which  tluiy 
have  some  confusod  ideas,  and  of  the  spirit-land,  we  asked  thcni, 
'  Who  told  you  this  V  they  replied,  '  Our  ancestors.'  '  But,' 
retorted  we,  '  your  ancestors  were  men  like  yourselves,  liars  like 


you,  w 

frequei 

you? 

of  wha 

lieth  n( 

man,  al 

"An 

we  este 

certain! 

in  the  i 

ments,  i 

simple  i 

pains  of 

tremblii 

Felix. 

"But 
own  pe 
losing  ir 
ans,  as  t 
labors  ui 
tions  anv 
preach  h 
our  Indij 

We 
devoid  oi 
tread  in 


IN   THE    UNITED  8TATK8. 


333 


by 
The 

:»  of 

that 

►vecl 

dl; 

Inent 

Lure, 

their 

)oks 

ihoir 

Itlicy 


you,  who  often  exaggerate  and  alter  facts  which  you  relate,  and 
frequently  invent  and  falsify — how  then  can  I  safely  believe 
you  ?  While  we,'  we  added, '  bear  with  us  irrefragable  testimony 
of  what  we  say,  the  Scriptures,  which  are  the  Word  of  God,  who 
lieth  not.  Writing  does  not  change  and  vary  like  the  voice  of 
man,  almost  by  his  very  nature  a  liar.' 

"And  after  admiring  the  excellence  of  writing,  an  art  which 
we  esteem  too  lightly  from  its  commonness,  they  realized  the 
certainty  of  the  Divine  Oracles  which  we  showed  them  written 
iii  the  sacred  books  dictated  by  God  himself,  whose  command- 
ments, threats,  and  promises  we  read  to  them,  and  often  the 
simple  and  artless  narrative  of  the  Divine  Judgment  and  of  the 
pains  of  hell  prepared  for  tlie  guilty,  filled  them  with  fear  and 
trembling,  as  in  the  Acts  we  read  it  filled  the  unjust  judge, 
Felix. 

"  But  the  most  powerful  argument  was  that  drawn  from  our 
own  persons.  In  imitation  of  the  great  apostle,  who,  without 
losing  in  the  least  his  profound  humility,  related  to  the  Corinthi- 
ans, as  though  it  were  of  another,  not  only  his  sufferings  aiidholy 
labors  un^?-  gont  in  the  service  of  the  Lord,  but  even  the  revela- 
tions ana  miraculous  gifts  bestowed  by  Him  who  had  sent  him  to 
preach  hi»  Gospel  to  them,  we  did  not  hesitate  to  speak  thus  to 
our  Indians."* 

We  have  inserted  this  interesting  page,  which  cannot  be 
devoid  of  interest  to  such  of  our  young  missionaries  as  aspire  to 
tread  in  the  steps  of  a  Jogues  and  a  Bressani. 

*  Bressani,  Brev  o  Belatione. 


384 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

PROVINCE    OF   NEW   YORK — (1640-1760.) 

The  Dutch— The  English  occnpation  and  Governor  Dongan— First  Colonial  Assembly 
In  1683— Jesaits  at  New  York- Revolution,  and  persecution  of  the  Catholics — Pre- 
tended negro  plot,  and  execution  of  the  Bev.  John  Ury. 

While  the  interior  of  New  York  was  visited  with  so  much 
perseverance  by  the  missionaries,  the  cities  long  remained  closed 
to  their  preaching.  The  Dutch  were  zealous  Calvinists,  and  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  "  Liberties  and  Exemptions"  of  the  colony, 
was  impliedly  confirmed  what  was  formally  expressed  in  the 
amended  charter  of  1640:  that  the  Protestant  religion,  as  set 
forth  by  the  synod  of  Dort,  should  be  maintained  by  the  Com- 
pany and  the  Director.  According  to  the  decrees  of  that  synod, 
no  other  religion  was  to  be  tolerated.  Yet  the  people  of  New 
Netherlands  did  not  evince  any  special  intolerance.  We  have 
seen  how  charitably  and  kindly  they  welcomed  the  Jesuit  Fathers, 
Jogues  and  Bressani,  after  their  countrymen  at  Fort  Orange  had 
rescued  those  missionaries  from  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The 
ministers  themselves.  Dominie  Megapolensis  and  Bogardus,  set 
the  example  of  the  most  generous  conduct,  and  we  must  state  the 
fact  to  their  honor.  During  the  period  of  the  Dutch  rule,  the 
only  case  of  oppression  on  the  Catholics  was  the  prosecution  in 
1658  of  a  Frenchman  by  the  Sheriff  of  Breuckelea  (Brooklyn), 
for  refusing  to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Rev.  Domiuie 
Polhemus.  The  delinquent,  for  insolently  pleading  the  frivolous 
excuse  that  he  was  a  Catholic,  was  fined  twelve  guilders.  There 
was  in  this,  however,  no  persecution  of  the  Catholics  specially,  for 


IN  THB  UNITED  STATES. 


335 


lave 
hers, 
had 

The 

,  set 

the 

the 

on  in 

lyn), 

minie 
olous 
here 


;e 


the  same  day  an  Englishman  was  subjected  to  the  same  fine  for 
refusing  to  pay  his  church  rate,  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not 
understand  Dutch.*  - 

It  is  true  that  the  number  of  Catholic  settlers  at  that  time  was 
then  very  limited ;  yet  there  were  some,  as  we  learn  by  a  letter  of 
Dominie  Megapolensis,  which  Dr.  O'Callaghan  has  given  in  his 
history  of  New  Amsterdam.  In  this  letter,  addressed  to  the 
Classis  in  Amsterdam,  the  minister  says  that  Father  Le  Moyne, 
the  Jesuit  missionary,  had  visited  him  at  Manhattan,  "  on  account 


accommoda- 
have  arrived 


of  the  Papists  residing  here, 
tion  of  the  French  sailors, , 
here  with  a  good  prize."f  j 
When  the  Dutch  col6n^ 
York,  and  especially  when 
governor  in  1683,  the  numbe! 
New  York  must  have  increased 
the  latter  would  have  been 

and  to  encourage  the  new-comers  by  grants  of  land, 
able  governor  was  not  long  enough  in  office  to  realize  all  his 
plans  for  the  good  of  the  colony,  where  he  had  expended  for  the 
public  good  most  of  his  private  fortune.  In  this,  as  in  many 
other  points,  the  Catholic  Governor  Dongan  forms  a  striking 
contrast  with  the  mass  of  colonial  rulers  who  sought  their  own 
profit  at  the  expense  of  the  countries  submitted  to  them.  To 
Dongan,  too.  New  York  is  indebted  for  the  convocation  of  the 
first  legislative  assembly,  the  colony  having  been  till  then  ruled 
and  governed  at  the  good  pleasure  of  the  governor ;  and  this 
readiness  to  admit  the  people  to  a  share  in  the  government  is  a 
fact  which  the  enemies  of  James  II.  should  not  conceal  in  their 
estimate  of  that  Catholic  monarch.    The  first  act  of  the  Assembly 


*  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  p.  14. 
t  O'Callaghan,  New  Netherland. 


336 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


passed  October  30,  1683,  was  a  charter  of  liberties,  declaring 
that  "  no  person  or  persons,  ^vrhich  profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus 
Christ,  shall  at  any  time  be  any  ways  molested,  punished,  dis- 
quieted, or  called  in  question  for  any  difference  of  opinion  or 
matter  of  religious  concernment,  who  do  not  actually  disturb  the 
civil  peace  of  the  province ;  but  that  all  and  every  such  person 
or  persons  may,  from  time  to  time,  and  at  all  times,  freely  have 
and  fully  enjoy  his  or  their  judgments  or  consciences,  in  matters 
of  religion,  throughout  all  the  province — they  behaving  them- 
selves peaceably  and  quietly,  andnot  using  this  liberty  to  licen- 
tiousness,  nor  to  the  "civil  injury  or  outward  disturbance  of 
others."  By  another  article,  all  defiominations  then  in  the  prov- 
ince were  securbd  the  fr^e  exercis6  -of  'their  discipline  and  forms, 
and  the  same  privilege  extended  to  such  as  might  come.  It  was 
only  l^  favor  of  such  a  liberality  that  Colonel  Dongan  could 
hope  tolDbtain  tolerati6ii>for  Catholicity ;  but  these  laws  making 
all  equal,  and  thus -tafmonizing  with  the  avowed  doctrines  of 
Protestantism,  did  not  survive  the  Catholic  rule  which  had  pro- 
mulgated them.  The  New  York  Assembly  of  1691  declared 
null  and  void  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  of  1683,  and  instead  of 
the  Charter  of  Liberties,  passed  a  Bill  of  Rights,  which  expressly 
excluded  Catholics  from  all  participation  in  the  privileges  which 
it  conferred.  It  had  been  the  same  in  Maryland,  where  Catholics 
had  first  proclaimed  religious  liberty,  and  where  the  Protestants, 
who  soon  gained  the  ascendency,  proscribed  the  Papists  and 
their  creed. 

We  have  seen  in  a  previous  chapter  that  Governor  .Dongan 
used  every  effort  to  stop  the  French  Jesuit  missions,  in  order  to 
destroy  at  the  same  time  the  influence  which  France  possessed  in 
the  councils  of  the  Iroquois  league.  Such  hostility  in  time  of 
profound  peace  gave  rise  to  complaints  on  the  part  of  Louis  XIV., 
and  James  II.  ordered  his  representative  to  favor  the  enterprises 
of  the  Fathers,  instead  of  thwarting  them,  with  all  his  power. 


*0'Cj| 
Sketch, 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


337 


Dongan  wished  to  see  the  Iroquois  Christians ;  but  he  wished 
them  to  be  English,  not  French  ;  and  to  reconcile  the  interests  of 
religion  and  loyalty,  he  asked  for  English  Jesuits  to  station  in 
the  cantons  in  the  place  of  the  French  missionaries.  Some 
Fathers  arrived  for  this  purpose  at  New  York,  but  their  ignorance 
of  the  Iroquois  dialects  at  first  prevented  their  proceeding  beyond 
the  city,  and  the  recall  of  Dongan,  followed  by  the  overthrow  of 
James,  annihilated  all  hopes  of  an  apostolate  among  the  Five 
Nations.  Campbell  cites  from  a  Roman  Catalogue  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  the  names  of  three  Jesuits  as  having  resided  at  New 
York  at  that  time.  Of  these.  Father  Thomas  Harvey  was  in  that 
city  from  1683  to  1690,  and  then  withdrew  to  Maryland,  but 
returned  to  New  York  in  1696,  though  he  finally  went  back  to 
Maryland,  and  died  there  in  1719,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four. 
Father  Henry  Harrison  was  in  New  York  in  1685,  and  returned 
to  Ireland  in  1690,  though  we  find  him  in  Maryland  in  1697. 
Father  Charles  Gage  was  also  in  the  colony  in  1686  and  1687. 
These  religious  profited  by  their  stay  in  New  York  to  open  a 
college ;  but  the  Catholic  element  was  too  weak  to  support  it,  as 
we  may  judge  by  the  following  letter,  written  by  Jacob  Leisler,  a 
fanatical  usurper  of  the  government,  to  the  Governor  of  Boston, 
in  August,  1689  :  "I  have  formerly  urged  to  inform  your  Honr. 
that  Coll.  Dongan,  in  his  time  did  erect  a  Jesuite  Colledge  upon 
cuUouv  to  learn  Latine  to  the  judges  West.  Mr.  Graham,  Judge 
Palmer,  and  John  Tudor  did  contribute  their  sons  for  some  time, 
but  noboddy  imitating  them,  the  colledge  vanished."* 

The  historian  of  the  colony.  Smith,  who  wrote  more  than  fifty 
years  later,  greatly  exaggerates  the  disafiection  of  the  people  to 
the  government,  and  represents  the  whole  people  as  trembling 
for  the  Protestant  cause,  because  several  Catholics  came  over  as 


*  O'Callaghau,  Documentary  History  of  Now  York,  ii.  28. 
Sketch,  p.  19. 

16 


Bayley,  Brief 


338 


THB  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


settlers,  and  because  a  Latin-school  was  opened.  The  appoint- 
ment of  a  Catholic  as  collector  of  the  port  enabled  Jacob  Leisler, 
a  fanatical  and  ambitious  merchant,  to  create  some  excitement 
by  a  refusal  on  his  part  to  pay  the  duties  to  a  Catholic ;  and  for 
this  conduct  he  has  been  lauded,  even  in  our  day,  as  a  champion 
of  liberty !  He  became  the  leader  of  those  who  refused  all  social 
intercourse  with  Catholics ;  and  when  the  news  arrived  of  the 
fall  of  James,  Nicholson,  the  Lieutenant-governor  of  Andross,  the 
successor  to  Dongan,  found  that  Leisler  was  plotting  to  seize 
him,  and  fled.  Leisler  immediately,  with  the  help  of  his  satel- 
lites, seized  the  £;overnment,  ard  although  the  members  of  the 
council  sought  to  uphold  the  government  in  being,  they  were 
compelled  to  fly  to  Albany.  Every  means  was  now  lesorted  to 
to  keep  alive  the  feeling  which  had  raised  him  to  power,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  read  without  a  blush  of  shame  the  numerous  docu- 
ments of  the  period  collected  in  the  Documentary  History  of  New 
York — depositions  of  men  that  they  had  seen  the  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor at  Mass ;  that  the  Papists  on  Staten  Island,  where  Dongan 
resided,  had  threatened  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  inhabitants  and 
burn  the  town ;  that  Mr.  de  la  Prairie  had  arms  in  his  house  for 
fifty  men,  and  that  a  priest  was  concealed  in  the  fort,  where  a 
good  part  of  the  garrison  consisted  of  Irish  Catholics. 

The  popular  hostility  excited  by  such  means  doubtless  drove 
from  New  York  most  of  the  Catholics  who  had  settled  theia 
during  the  reign  of  James  II.,  and  if  v;o  can  rely  on  the  census 
of  1696,  there  were  then  only  seven  Papists.^  or,  at  most,  seven 
Papist  families  in  New  Y  k.  The  smallness  of  this  number 
should  have  calmed  the  fears  of  the  Protestants,  but  it  was  not 
so,  and  in  lYOO  an  act  was  passed,  of  which  the  following  was 
the  preamble :  "  Whereas,  divers  Jesuits,  Priests,  and  Popish 
missionaries  have,  of  late,  come,  and  for  some  time  have  had 
their  residence  in  the  remote  parts  of  this  province,  and  others  of 
his  majesty's  adjacent  colonies,  who,  by  their  wicked  and  subtle 


of 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


339 


insinuations,  industriously  labored  to  debauch,  seduce,  and  with- 
draw the  Indians  from  their  due  obedience  to  his  most  Sacred 
Majesty,  and  to  excite  and  stir  them  up  to  seditious  rebellion  and 
open  hostility  against  his  Majesty's  government,"  &c.  The 
enacting  part  was  as  cruel  as  the  preamble  was  false.  It  declared 
that  every  priest  coming  into  the  province  after  the  first  of  No- 
vember, IVOO,  or  remaining  after  that  day,  should  be  "deemed 
and  accounted  an  incendiary  and  disturber  of  the  public  peace 
and  safety,  and  an  enemy  to  the  true  Christian  religion,  and  shall 
be  adjudged  to  sufier  perpetual  imprisonment."  If  he  broke 
prison  and  were  retaken,  the  penalty  was  death,  and  any  one 
that  harbored  a  priest  was  made  liable  to  a  fine  of  £200  sterling, 
and  to  stand  three  days  on  the  pillory.  It  is  due,  however,  to 
the  people  of  New  York  to  state  that  this  sanguinary  act,  inspired 
apparently  by  earlier  legislation  of  New  England  on  the  same 
subject,  was  the  work  of  the  fanatical  Earl  of  Bellaraont,  then 
governor,  and  was  so  opposed  by  the  people  that  he  got  it 
through  his  Council  only  by  voting  as  a  member,  and  then  giving 
a  casting  vote  as  president  of  the  body,  and  sanctioning  it  as 
governor. 

In  lYOl  a  law  was  passed  excluding  Catholics  from  office,  and 
depriving  them  of  the  other  branch  of  the  elective  franchise,  that 
of  voting.  The  next  year  Queen  Anne  granted  liberty  of  con- 
science to  all  the  inhabitants  of  New  York,  Papists  excepted. 
Such  intolerance,  it  is  evident,  kept  from  New  York  all  Catholic 
immigration,  and  the  few  of  the  faithful  who  resided  there  were 
subjected  to  many  trials,  as  the  popular  mind  was  rendy  to 
ascribe  any  calamity  to  them.  Few  dared  to  avow  themselves 
Catholics,  and  in  the  absence  of  priest  and  church  it  was  impos- 
sible to  fulfil  the  duties  of  religion,  as  there  was  no  way  but  the 
then  long  and  expensive  journey  to  Philadelphia. 

But  the  most  remarkable  fact,  to  prove  how  sadly  the  public 
mind  had  been  envenomed,  since  the  English  began  to  exceed 


340 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Dutch  in  numbers  and  influence,  is  the  execution  of  the 
unfortunate  John  Ury,  against  whom  the  popular  hate  was 
excited,  in  consequence  of  the  belief  that  he  was  a  Catholic 
priest.  In  the  early  part  of  1741,  the  city  of  New  York,  which 
then  contained  20,000  inhabitants,  was  seized  with  one  of  those 
inexplicable  panics  to  which  assemblages  of  men  are  more  sub- 
ject than  individuafs.  A  rumor,  arising  out  of  a  number  of  fires 
in  different  parts  of  the  town,  accused  the  negroes  of  a  plot  to 
burn  the  city  and  massacre  the  inhabitants.  On  this  groundless 
suspicion  the  whole  people  were  thrown  into  the  greatest  alarm. 
The  lieutenant-governor,  George  Clarke,  who,  in  his  dispatch 
of  the  22d  of  April,  ascribes  the  fire  in  the  fort  to  an  accident, 
which  he  fully  explains,  by  the  15th  of  May  had  discovered  a 
horrid  conspiracy  and  plot,*  in  consequence  of  which  he  offered 
a  reward  of  a  hundred  pounds  sterling  and  a  free  pardon  to  any 
white  person  who  would  reveal  the  authors  of  the  plot,  and  then 
an  indented  servant,  named  Mary  Burton,  came  forward  to 
accuse  a  number  of  persons  of  being  concerned  in  the  conspiracy. 
The  prosecutions  were  instituted  with  a  disgusting  thirst  for 
blood,  and  carried  on  without  throwing  any  light  on  the  mystery 
which  they  sought  to  unveil.  Three  months  passed  in  illusory 
interrogatories,  and  three  persons  had  been  hung  as  authors  of 
the  plot,  when  on  the  19th  of  June  the  lieutenant-governor,  as 
deluded  as  the  worst,f  took  it  into  his  head  to  offer  pardon  to  all 
who  should  confess  before  the  first  of  July.  "  The  poor  negroes," 
says  an  impartial  reporter,  "being  extremely  terrified,  were  fux- 
ious  to  take  the  only  avenue  of  safety  that  was  offered,  and  eac. 
strove  to  tell  a  story  as  ingenious  and  horrible  as  he  could  ipan- 
ufacture.  The  territ)le  cry  of  Popery  was  now  raised,  which 
struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  aii,  and  led  to  the  sacrifice  of  an 
amiable  and  interesting  clergyman,  of  whose  innocence  there  can 


•  New  York  Colonial  Dooumonta,  vi.  186. 


+  Ibid.  vi. 


IN  THE  UNITfiD  STATES. 


341 


as 
all 


icli 
an 

can 


scarcely  remain  a  doubt,  so  absurd  was  the  charge  against  him, 
and  so  feebly  was  it  supported."* 

It  was  now  that,  for  the  first  time,  Mary  Burton  denounced 
John  Uiy.  This  man  was  arrested  as  a  Catholic  priest,  tried  as 
a  Catholic  priest,  coud'^mned  and  executed  as  a  Catholic  priest, 
and  yet  to  this  day  a  mystery  so  complete  hangs  over  his  fate 
that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  say  whether  he  was  either  a 
Catholic  or  a  priest.  Although  it  would  have  been  enough  for 
him  to  prove  that  he  was  not  a  priest,  to  have  dissipated  the 
hatred  gathered  against  him,  and  thus  probably  escaped  an 
ignominious  death,  Ury  never  formally  denied  the  accusation, 
or  defended  himself  from  the  charge  of  being  a  Catholic.  Al- 
though uncertainty  rests  on  his  real  character,  it  is  most  certain, 
however,  that  Ury  was  condemned  only  because  iudfje,  jury, 
counsel,  and  people  believed  him  an  ecclesiastic  of  the  dreaded 
Church  of  Rome ;  and  the  crime  of  intention,  if  not  of  fact,  rests 
with  full  force  on  the  fanatical  population  of  New  York  in  1*741. 

All  that  is  certainly  known  of  Mr.  John  Ury  is,  that  he  was 
the  son  of  a  secretary  of  the  South  Sea  Company.  According 
to  a  strange  journal  o^  his  published  by  Horsemanden,  in  his  ac- 
count of  the  trial,  ho  arrived  from  Europe  at  Philadelphia,  Feb- 
ruary, 1Y39,  and  opened  a  little  school  in  New  Jersey,  and  then, 
in  November,  1*740,  came  to  reside  in  New  York.  Here  he 
taught,  and  baptized  some  children.  Several  witnesses  proved 
that  he  shut  himself  up  in  his  room  with  se\  ral  persons  to  cel- 
ebrate religious  ceremonies ;  that  he  had  wafers  made,  and  a 
stand  in  the  form  of  an  altar ;  that  he  preached  frequently,  and 
had  candles  lighted  in  the  daytime.  The  only  doubt  can  be, 
whether  Mr.  Ury  was  a  Catholic  priest  or  a  nonjuring  Angli- 


*  American  Criminal  Trials,  by  Peleg  W.  Chandler  (Boston,  1844),  i.  222. 
See  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  v.  678.  "  At  first,"  says  Governor  Clarke,  on 
August  24th,  '*  we  thought  it  was  only  projected  by  Huson  and  the  negroes, 
but  it  is  now  apparent  that  the  hand  of  Popery  is  in  it." 


342 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


can  ;  but  in  an  able  dissertation  on  the  subject,  B.  U.  Campbeh, 
Esq.,  proves  clearly  that  the  second  hypothesis  is  inadmissible, 
because  Ury  would  not  have  failed,  in  that  case,  to  exculpate 
hirns^  J'  from  the  charge  of  being  a  priest ;  while  under  the  for- 
mer hypothesis,  the  fear  of  compromising  the  few  Catholics  of 
New  York  would  compel  him,  on  his  trial,  to  be  silent  as  to  his 
priestly  character.     He  was  not  at  all  thought  of  in  connection 
with  the  plot  until  long  after  Huson's  execution,  when  an  ab- 
surd letter  of  General  Oglethorpe's,  declaring  that  Jesuits  in  the 
interest  of  the  Spaniards  were  in  all  the  towns,  filled  all  minds 
with  panic  fears  of  Jesuits  in  disguise ;  and  every  effort  was 
made  to  discover  one.    On  the  20th  of  June,  the  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor wrote  :  "  There  was  in  town,  some  time  ago,  a  man  who  is 
said  to  be  a  Romish  priest,  who  used  to  be  at  Huson's,  but  has 
disappeared  ever  since  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy,  and  is  not 
now  to  be  found."*     On  his  trial,  he  defended  himself  ably,  but 
saw  the  evident  impossibility  of  obtaining  a  just  hearing,  the 
fanatical  hativ^d  of  the  Catholic  religion  demanding  his  blood .f 
After  Ms  conviction,  Mr.  Ury  asked  a  short  reprieve,  to  enable 
him  to  prepare  for  death ;  and  on  its  expiration,  was  hung,  on 
the  29th  of  August,  1741.     Eleven  negroes  were  burnt  alive  at 
the  stake,  eighteen  hung,  and  fifty  transported  to  the  West  In- 
dies, in  expiation  of  this  pretended  plot ;  and  Mr.  Campbell  thus 
concludes  his  interesting  dissertation  on  the  most  innocent  of 
these  victims  of  a  popular  delusion  : 

"  The  melancholy  fate  of  the  Reverend  John  Ury  was  one  of 
peculiar  hardship.  Accused  of  an  infamous  crime,  without  coun- 
sel to  advise  or  defend  him,  he  was  tried  by  an  excited  tribunal, 
whose  strongest  prejudices  were  invoked  against  him,  on  account 
of  his  faith  and  religious  character ;  and  he  was  convicted  upon 


*  New  York  Colonial  Dociimenta,  vi.  198. 

+  Sec  Horaemanden,  Account  of  the  Negro  Conspiracy. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


843 


the  testimony  of  profligate  and  perjured  witnesses.  Doomed  to 
the  death  of  a  felon,  he  met  his  fate  with  manly  fortitude  and  a 
Christian  resignation.  As  he  believed  that  his  sacerdotal  char- 
acter was  the  cause  of  his  condemnation,  it  would  have  been  a 
consolation  in  his  last  moments  to  have  declared  himself  a  Cath- 
olic priest.  But  as  such  an  acknowledgment  would  have  com- 
promised those  friends  who  had  shown  him  hospitality  and  kind- 
ness, his  sense  of  honor  and  gratitude  restrained  him  from  an 
avowal  that  would  have  conferred  upon  his  death  the  dignity  of 
martyrdom."* 

The  fearful  trial  of  which  we  have  spoken  shows  that  in  1*741 
there  were  some  Catholics  is  New  York ;  but  they  scarcely 
durst  avow  it  to  eacn  oth  jr,  and  this  state  of  intimidation  lasted 
till  the  Revolutionary  War.  Father  Josiah  Greaton  was  the  only 
Catholic  priest  in  Philadelphia  in  1*739,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Mr.  Ury  was  in  correspondence  with  him,  for  Judge  Horseman- 
den  admits  that  the  dying  speech  of  the  priest  was  printed  at 
Philadelphia  by  his  friends,  soon  after  his  execution ;  but  this 
version  is  unfortunately  lost.f 

But  Ury  was  not  the  only  victim  to  hatred  of  Catholicity. 

Of  the  negroes  arrested  as  concerned  in  the  plot,  some  were 
Spanish  negroes,  taken  on  a  Spanish  vessel  in  time  of  war,  and 
sold  as  slaves,  instead  of  being  treated  as  prisoners,  for  they  were 
freed  men.  Most,  however,  of  those  executed  were  negroes  raised 
in  the  colony  by  English  or  Dutch  families.  The  former  showed 
education,  talent —  ill  that  constitutes  a  man ;  the  latter  were 


*  Life  and  Times  o'  the  Mos'^  Rev.  John  Carroll,  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine, 
vi.  38. 

t  The  only  authonty  for  these  nala  is  Horse manden's  book,  "The  New 
York  Conspiracy,  rr  a  History  ot  ^he  Negro  Plot,  «fec.,  New  York,  1744." 
Chandler,  already  cited,  pronounces  he  whole  a  ('.elusion,  and  believes  that 
Mr.  Ury  was  not  a  priest,  but  a  nonjuring  minister.  Mr.  Campbell  con- 
cludes that  he  was  a  priest ;  Bishop  Bayley  expresses  no  opinion ;  and  Mr. 
Shea  adopts  Chandler's  view  of  the  matter. 


344 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


like  dumb  cattle.  Unaided  by  a  lawyer — for  every  member  of 
the  bar  was  arrayed  against  them — the  Spanish  negroes  took  ob- 
jections which  certainly  would  have  weighed  with  any  but  a 
prejudiced  judge  ;  yet,  in  spite  of  all  their  arguments  and  testi- 
mony, they  were  condemned.  The  New  York  negroes  made  no 
attempt  at  defence,  and,  indeed,  were  incapable  of  any.  They 
made  any  accusation  or  admission  that  was  asked.  At  the  stake, 
the  diflference  was  even  greater :  the  poor  native  negroes  were 
led  out  like  so  many  brutes,  unattended  by  any  clergyman,  with 
no  attempt  to  convert  them,  bul^  chained  to  the  stake,  and 
burned  amid  their  howls  of  despair.  The  conduct  of  the  Span- 
ish, and  consequently  Catholic  negroes,  was  striking  even  to  the 
savage  justice,  Horsemanden,  who  chronicles  the  plot.  Priest 
there  was  none  to  prepare  them  for  death ;  they  were  left  to 
themselves,  and  yet  a  few  brief  words  of  the  justice  speak  a  eu- 
logy on  the  Catholic  religion,  which  could  make  such  a  different 
result :  "  Juan  de  Sylva,  the  Spanish  negro  condemned  for  the 
conspiracy,  was  this  day  executed  according  to  sentence :  he  was 
neatly  dressed  in  a  white  shirt,  jacket,  drawers,  and  stockings, 
behaved  decently,  prayed  in  Spanish,  kissed  a  crucifix,  insisting 
on  his  innocence  to  the  last."* 

*  Metropolitan  for  1855,  p.  270. 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


845 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


STATE    OF    NEW    YORK — (1776-1786). 


CJonstitution  of  the  State— The  English  Party  and  Protestantlbm— Commencement  of 
Catholic  worship  In  the  city  of  New  York— St.  Peter's  Church— Father  Wholnn  nnd 
Father  Nngent— A  trustee  of  St  Peiers  in  1786. 


The  population  of  the  colony  of  New  York  made  common 
cause  with  the  other  colonies  from  the  outset  of  the  Revolution- 
aiy  War ;  but  the  city  of  New  York,  after  the  disastrous  battle 
of  Long  Island,  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  English  till  1783, 
and  was  the  last  large  town  evacuated  by  the  British  troops. 
On  the  31st  of  May,  1776,  Congress  advised  the  several  States  to 
adopt  constitutions,  and  the  New  York  Convention  met  for  this 
purpose  at  Kingston,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1777.  The  Consti- 
tution, as  proposed,  gave  the  Legislature  power  of  naturalizing 
such  foreigners  as  came  to  reside  in  the  State,  on  their  taking  an 
oath  of  allegiance.  But  Mr.  John  Jay  proposed  as  an  amend- 
ment that  every  foreigner  should  "  abjure  and  renounce  all  al- 
legiance and  subjection  to  all  and  every  foreign  king,  prince,  po- 
tentate, and  State,  in  all  matters  ecclesiastical  and  civil ;"  and  in 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  several  honorable  delegates,  such  as  Morris 
and  Livingston,  the  amendment  was  finally  adopted.  Thus,  a 
foreign  Catholic,  a  Lafayette,  Pulaski,  De  Kalb,  or  Kosciusko, 
could  not  become  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  this 
state  of  things  lasted  till  1789,  when  the  General  Government 
of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  itself  the  question  of  naturali- 


15 


r.* 


846 


THE  Catholic  church 


zation,  annulled  virtually  the  reserves  and  restrictions  contained 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York.* 

The  clause  relative  to  the  liberty  of  worship  was  thus  in  the 
Constitution  as  proposed  :  •'  Free  toleration  of  religious  profession 
and  worship  shall  forever  hereafter  be  allowed  to  all  mankind." 
This  clause  came  up  for  debate  on  the  20th  of  May,  and  Mr.  Jay 
did  not  fail  to  offer  an  amendment.  He  wished  to  tolerate  in 
the  State  the  presence  of  no  Catholic  who  did  not  deny  on  oath 
the  power  in  the  priesthood  of  remitting  sins.  This  restriction 
was  too  absurd  to  be  entertained  by  the  Convention ;  it  wns 
withdrawing  with  one  hand  the  liberty  proffered  by  the  other ; 
but  Jay  craftily  drew  up  another,  to  exclude  Catholics ;  and  the 
article  of  the  Constitution  was  adopted  with  his  amendment,  in 
these  terms :  "  Provided  that  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
granted  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  excuse  acts  of  licentious- 
ness, or  justify  practices  inconsistent  with  the  peace  or  safety  of 
the  State." 

This  fanaticism  at  once  drove  from  the  soil  of  Now  York  a 
body  of  industrious  and  thrifty  settlers.  In  the  valley  of  the 
Mohawk,  a  number  of  the  clan  McDonald  had  settled  under  the 
auspices  of  Sir  William  Johnson ;  they  were  all  strict  Catholics, 
old  adherents  of  the  Stuart  cause,  whose  blood  yet  thrills  at  the 
name  of  Charles  Edward.  They  had  hoped  to  enjoy  the  rights 
of  freemen  and  the  privilege  of  worshipping  God  in  the  Western 
wilderness ;  but  when  the  new  government  of  New  York  de- 
prived them  of  both,  they  emigrated  in  a  body'to  Upper  Canada, 
and  have  formed  the  celebrated  Glengary  clan. 

But  while  the  British  government  favored  the  Catholics  in 
Canada,  it  prevented  all  public  exercise  of  their  worship  at  New 
York  during  its  possession  of  that  city.  Anglican  fanaticism 
was  displayed  in  an  especial  manner  in  1778.     In  February  of 

*  Journal  of  Provincial  Convention,  846. 


*GrJ 

Sketch 
Motte 
Was  Bti 
iised  as 
for  a  tir 
fined  h« 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


847 


H 

•rn 
e- 
a, 


that  year,  a  large  French  man-of-war  was  taken  by  the  English 
in  Chesnpeako  liay,  and  brought  on  to  New  York  to  be  con- 
demned. The  chaplain  of  this  vessel  was  Mr.  De  la  Motte,  of 
the  Order  of  St.  Augustine ;  and,  like  the  officers,  he  was  put 
on  parole,  and  allowed  to  visit  the  city  freely.  The  few  Catho- 
lics of  New  York  begged  Mr.  De  la  Motte  to  grant  them  the 
satisfaction  of  hearing  Mass ;  and  the  chaplain  solicited  permis- 
sion from  the  British  commander,  but  received  a  peremptory  re- 
fusal. Whether  he  misunderstood  the  reply,  or  resolved  to  dis- 
regard it,  Mr.  De  la  Motte  celebrated  the  holy  mysteries  for  the 
poor  people,  who  in  all  probability  assisted  for  the  first  time  in 
many  years.  But  the  chaplain  was  a  ested  ^'  r  the  act,  and 
strictly  confined  in  prison  till  he  was  exchanged. 

As  soon  as  the  colonies  opened  negotiatious  and  farmed  an 
alliance  with  Fiance,  the  English  par'.  /  '.;  ught  to  ideiiiify  their 
cause  with  that  of  Protestantism,  and  lo  excite  the  fanaticism  of 
the  populace  by  presenting  as  a  danger  for  the  Reformation, 
either  liberty  of  woi-ship  or  the  French  alliance.  The  honors 
paid  by  Americans  in  the  funeral  ceremonies  of  the  army  of 
France  were  presented  as  religious  treasons;  and  we  read  in 
Rivington's  Royal  Gazette  of  December  11,  1782:  "On  the 
4th  of  November  the  clergy  and  selectmen  of  Boston  paraded 
through  the  streets  after  a  crucifix,  and  joined  in  a  procession  for 
praying  a  departed  soul  oui  ^n  purgatory ;  and  for  this  they  gave 
the  example  of  Congress  and  other  American  leaders  on  a  former 
occasion  at  Philadelphia,  pome  of  whom,  in  the  height  of  their 
zeal,  even  went  so  far  m  to  sprinkle  themselves  with  what  they 


*  Greenleaf  8  HiRtory  of  the  Churches  of  New  York.  Bishop  Bayley, 
Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  p.  85.  The  prison  in  which  Mr.  De  la 
Motte  was  conflnod  was  the  Old  Sugar-house,  which,  but  a  few  years  sIdco, 
was  standing  beside  tlio  Post-office,  in  Liberty-street.  The  church  now 
used  as  a  Post-offlco  was  used  by  the  English  troops  as  a  riding-school,  and 
for  a  time  as  a  hospitid  ;  and  the  confessor  of  the  faith  was  doubtless  con- 
fined here  also. 

11* 


848 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


'  call  holy  water."*  General  Arnold,  who  endeavored  to  sell  his 
native  land  to  England,  had  also  been  scandalized  by  the  tolera- 
tion which  Catholics  were  beginning  to  enjoy ;  and  if  we  may 
believe  the  celebrated  traitor,  his  conscience  did  not  permit  him 
to  remain  faithful  to  a  party  which  thus  sacrificed  the  essential 
interests  of  Protestantism.  In  his  address  to  the  inhabitants  of 
America,  Arnold  laments  that  the  gieat  interests  of  the  country 
"  were  dangerously  sacrificed  to  the  partial  views  of  a  proud,  an- 
cient, and  crafty  foe ;  regards  her  as  too  feeble  to  establish  their 
independence ;  charges  her  with  being  an  enemy  to  the  Protest- 
ant faith ;"  and  in  the  proclamation  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Continental  army,  he  says  that  "  he  wished  to  lead  a  chosen 
band  of  Americans  to  the  attainment  of  peace,  liberty,  and  safety, 
and  with  them  to  share  in  the  glory  of  rescuing  their  native 
country  from  the  grasping  hand  of  France,  as  well  as  from  the 
ambitious  and  interested  views  of  a  desperate  party  among  them- 
selves, who  had  already  brought  the  colonies  to  the  very  brink  of 
destruction."  Even  their  last  stake,  religion,  he  represented  to 
be  in  such  danger  as  to  have  no  other  security  than  what  de- 
pended upon  the  exertions  of  the  parent  country  for  deliverance. 
In  proof  or  illustration  he  asserted  a  fact  upon  his  own  know- 
ledge, viz.,  that  he  had  lately  seen  their  mean  and  profligate 
Congress  at  Mass  for  the  soul  of  a  Roman  Catholic  in  purgatory, 
and  participating  in  the  rites  of  a  Church,  against  whose  anti- 


*  1  <  eneau's  pooms,  p.  288.  This  republican  poet  cites  it  to  explain  the  four 
following  lines,  which  he  puts  into  liivington's  mouth : 

"  If  the  greatest  among  them  submit  to  the  Pope, 
What  reason  have  I  for  indi'.Igence  to  hope  ? 
If  the  Congress  themselves  to  the  chapel  did  pass, 
Ye  may  swear  that  poor  Jemmy  would  have  to  sing  Mass." 

Rivington  was  a  bookseller,  who  published  a  Tory  paper,  and  had  a  shop 
in  St.  PauPs  Churchyard.  Ho  kept  also  a  coffee-house,  much  frequented 
by  the  oflTioers,  many  of  whom,  when  they  evacuated  the  city,  forgot  to  pay 
hirn. 


*Dod 
June  2, 

tit  is 
prior  to 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


349 


Christian  corruptions  their  pious  ancestors  would  have  witnessed 
in  their  blood.* 

The  English  army  evacuated  New  York  and  set  sail  for  Europe 
on  the  25th  of  November,  1783,  and  it  is  probable  that  Father 
Farmer,  who  had  organized  a  congregation  previous  to  the  war, 
and  who  still  resided  at  Philadelphia,  seized  the  first  opportunity 
to  revisit  his  little  flock  of  Catholics  at  New  York.f  The  part 
taken  by  France  had  rendered  the  clause  introduced  by  Jay  a 
nullity,  and  no  obstacle  existed  to  the  open  celebration  of  the 
Catholic  worship.  A  tradition  preserved  in  the  city  tells  us  that 
the  firat  chapel  was  a  loft  over  a  carpenter's  shop,  and  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, in  his  version  of  the  tradition,  states  that  service  was  actually 
performed  in  1781  or  1782.  This  must  have  been  outside  of  the 
city,  where  the  English  exercised  less  influence ;  but  it  seems 
very  doubtful.  Although  it  is  impossible  to  prove  Father  Far- 
mer's presence  in  New  York  in  1782,  it  is  beyond  all  doubt  that 
he  visited  the  city  in  the  following  year.  In  one  of  his  letters  he 
says  that  about  the  month  of  December,  1783,  he  spent  five  days 
at  Fishkill  among  the  Canadian  refugees,  in  order  to  revive  the 
faith  among  them  ;  and  the  missionary  could  scarcely  have  gone 
from  Philadelphia  to  Fishkill  without  passing  through  New  York. 
Father  Farmer's  mission  comprised  New  York  and  New  Jersey ; 
and  even  in  1785,  when  there  were  three  priests  in  New  York, 
Father  Farmer  directed  them  from  Philadelphia. 

The  restoration  of  peace  and  the  assembling  at  New  York  of 
the  foreign  ministers,  gave  the  Catholics  more  energy  and  cour- 
age. They  even  solicited  the  use  of  a  room  in  the  Exchange  for 
the  purposes  of  divine  worship,  and  though  the  authorities  re- 
jected the  petition,  heard  Mass  in  Water-street,  in  or  near  the 


*  Dodsley'B  Annual  Register  for  1781,  p.  47,  cited  in  the  American  Celt, 
June  2,  1855. 

t  It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  date  of  his  visits  to  New  York,  and  of  those 
prior  to  the  war  we  have  only  vague  tradition. 


850 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUKCH 


residences  of  Don  Thomas  Stoughton,  the  Sparl^sh  consul,  or 
of  Don  Diego  de  Garde  lui,  the  minister  of  the  same  power,  who 
took  up  his  residence  in  New  York  in  1786,  when  it  became  the 
temporary  seat  of  the  Federal  government.  Hardie,  in  his  de- 
scription of  New  York,  also  speaks  of  the  halls  hired  by  the 
Catholics  in  1784  and  1785  to  meet  on  Sunday  in  prayer;  and 
Greenleaf  tells  us  that  prior  to  1786  they  used  as  a  church  "a 
building  erected  for  public  purposes  in  Vauxhall  Garden,  situate 
on  the  margin  of  the  North  River."*  In  1785  an  act  of  incor- 
poration was  obtained  by  St.  Peter's  Church  from  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  early  in  1786  a  lot  was  purchased  in  Barclay- 
street  to  erect  the  first  Catholic  church  in  New  York.  On  the 
Feast  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  patron  of  his  Catholic  Majesty, 
the  Spanish  ambassador  laid  the  corner-stone,  and  his  sovereign, 
Charles  III.,  allotted  a  considerable  sum  to  aid  in  erecting  the 
holy  temple.  The  French  consul,  Mr.  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur, 
was  also  one  of  its  chief  benefactors. 

At  this  epoch  Father  Farmer  continued  to  be  the  vicar  for 
New  York  of  Father  John  CarroJl,  the  prefect-apostolic ;  but  he 
did  not  reside  there  permanently,  and  other  priests  actually 
settled  there  exercised  the  functions  of  the  ministry.  In  the 
month  of  October,  1784,  Father  Charles  Whelan,  an  Irish  Fran- 
ciscan, arrived  at  New  York,  and  asked  Father  Farmer  to  be 
employed  as  a  missionary.  Father  Whelan  had  been  a  chaplain 
on  board  one  of  the  vessels  in  Admiral  de  Grasse's  fleet,  which 
wa  defeated  by  Admiral  Rodney  on  the  12th  of  April,  I'^'^o, 
and  was  taken  prisoner  in  that  great  naval  battle.  After  revisit- 
ing Ireland  he  came  over  to  America  with  his  two  brothers, 
whom  he  induced  to  settle  there.  Father  Whelan  had  his  eccle- 
siastical  recommendations  in  regular  form,  but  he  had  no  appro- 
bation from  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome,  and 


*  Hibtory  of  th«»  Churches  of  New  York,  p.  888. 


mm 


m  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


351 


ht  that  period  the  apostolic-prefect  was  authorized  to  grant  facul- 
ties only  to  such  as  were  sent  by  the  Propaganda.  This  restric- 
tion seemed  very  embarrassing  to  Father  John  Carroll,  who  used 
every  endeavor  to  obtain  more  ample  faculties  from  Rome.  Yet 
the  measure  was  dictated  by  prudence ;  it  sheltered  the  United 
States  from  priestly  adventurers,  and  it  would  have  saved  Father 
Carroll  himself  many  trials  and  chagrins  if  he  had  not  solicited 
the  removal  of  a  restriction  really  beneficial  to  the  future  of  the 
Church.  Father  Whelan  accordingly  at  first  obtained  only 
power  to  say  Mass ;  but  availing  himself  of  the  powers  he  had 
in  Ireland,  he  proceeded  to  hear  confessions  and  celebrate  mar- 
riage. This  led  to  a  long  struggle  between  him  and  Father 
Farmer,  in  which  the  latter's  authority  was  not  always  respected. 
At  last,  in  the  month  of  July,  a  rescript  of  the  Propaganda  ar- 
rived, and  enabled  Father  Carroll  to  regulate  the  position  of 
Father  Whelan. 

But  scarcely  had  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  New  York  seemed 
to  be  restored  to  tranquillity,  when  new  troubles  arose  to  sadden 
it.  Towards  the  close  of  1785,  a  second  Irish  Franciscan,  Father 
Andrew  Nugent,  arrived  at  New  York,  and  endeavored  to  force 
himself  on  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  As  he  was  n  better 
preacher  than  Father  Whelan,  the  laity  immediately  took  ihe 
preacher's  part,*  and  asked  Father  Farmer  to  withdraw  Father 
Whelan.  The  good  Jesuit  having  endeavored  to  pacify  them, 
the  trustees  threatened  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  to  obtain  a 
law  enabling  them  to  dismiss  a  clergyman,  when  they  became 


*  '*  A  good  preacher,  alas !  is  all  that  some  want,  who  never  approach 
the  sacraments,"  wrote  Father  Farmer.  At  tliis  time,  the  Catholics  ol"  New 
York  took  steps  to  get  from  Ireland  Father  Jones,  a  Franciscan  at  Cork,  who 
was  called  a  "great  preacher."  But  that  religious  did  not  yield  to  their 
entreaties.  "  The  dilFerent  sectaries  have  scarce  any  other  test  to  judge  of  a 
clergyman,  than  his  talents  for  preaching,  and  our  Irish  congregations,  such 
as  New  York,  follow  the  same  rule,"  wrote  Father  Carroll,  on  tlie  15th  of 
Decemher,  178.^.     Campbell,  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  102. 


352 


THE  CATHOIJC  CHURCH 


dissatisfied  with  him.  All  attempts  at  conciliation  proved  use- 
less,  and  at  Christmas,  1*785,  the  trustees  decided  that  the  Sunday 
collection  should  no  longer  be  given  to  Father  Whelan.  This 
was  the  only  resource  of  the  missionary,  and  after  remaining  at 
his  post  till  the  12th  of  February,  1*786,  he  resolved  to  leave 
New  York,  and  join  his  brother  at  Johnstown,  forty-five  miles 
from  Albany.  Father  Whelan  intended  to  return  at  Easter,  but 
aflfairs  were  not  arranged  in  the  interval,  and  the  prefect,  whose 
coufidence  he  had  preserved,  empowered  him  to  found  a  mission 
in  Kentucky. 

By  the  retreat  of  Father  Whelan,  Father  Nugent's  party  tri- 
umphed, and  hoped  to  have  their  favorite  as  pastor.  The  latter, 
disregarding  his  want  of  regular  powers,  announced  that  he 
would  hear  confessions :  and  Fath^  r  Farmer,  announcing  this  im- 
prudent conduct  to  the  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  formally  requested 
the  suspension  of  Father  Nugent.  But  it  seems  that  the  Prefect- 
apostolic  preferred  to  temporize,  for  fear  of  greater  scandals,  in 
case  the  priest  openly  disowned  his  authority.  This  melancholy 
condition  of  affairs  continued  till  November,  1787,  when  Father 
Carroll  committed  the  parish  of  New  York  to  Father  William 
O'Brien,  a  Dominican  Father  from  Dublin.  Father  Nugent  re- 
mained at  New  York,  though  without  exercising  the  ministry, 
and  Bishop  Bayley  found  on  the  minutes  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
that  in  1790  the  trustees  made  a  collection  to  pay  the  passage  of 
their  ex-pastor,  who  embarked  for  France  in  the  T61emaque.* 

We  must  avow  that  nothing  is  more  sad  than  tho  commence- 
ment of  the  Church  in  New  York.  Disobedient  priests,  rebel- 
lious and  usurping  laymen  !  But  this  picture  should  serve  as  a 
lesson  to  American  Catholics,  as  Mr.  Campbell  justly  observes : 
"  It  will  show  the  pernicious  tendency  of  the  trustee  system,  to  re- 
mark, that  at  the  period  of  this  presumptuous  interference  of  the 


*  Bayley,  Catholic  Church  in  New  York,  p.  49. 


1 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


353 


trustees  of  the  Catholic  congregation  of  New  York  with  the 
spiritual  government  of  the  Church,  they  were  not  in  possession 
of  an  edifici  of  tL^ir  own  in  which  to  perform  divine  worship, 
but  were  under  the  necessity  of  hiring  a  room  for  the  purpose."* 
Yet,  of  a  Catholic  population  of  one  hundred,  about  forty  ap- 
proached the  sacraments ;  and,  to  maintain  the  devotion  of  this 
Uttle  nucleus  of  the  faithful,  Father  Farmer  made  frequent  jour- 
neys to  New  York.  He  continued  these  periodical  visits  till 
shortly  before  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Philadelphia  in  1786 ; 
and  after  him,  Fath^er  O'Brien  succeeded  in  extending  piety  and 
pacifying  the  troubled  minds.  Thus,  amid  the  cockle,  the  good 
grain  showed  itself  at  New  York ;  and  in  spite  of  the  preten- 
sions and  exactions  of  the  trustees,  we  cannot  refuse  them  a  cer- 
tain merit  for  preserving  the  name  of  Catholics  amid  the  jarring 
sects  of  Protestantism,  and  for  having  built  the  first  church, 
which,  for  twenty-three  years,  was  the  only  shrine  of  the  faith  in 
New  York.f  But  were  they  really  Catholics?  We  might  al- 
most doubt  it,  from  the  writings  of  the  best  known  of  them, 
Hector  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur. 

This  personage,  born  at  Caen,  in  Normandy,  of  a  noble  family, 
in  1*731,  probably  bore  the  name  of  St.  Jean  ;  and  his  long  stay 
in  England  and  America  doubtless  induced  him  to  adopt  that  of 
St.  John.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to  Enjrland,  and 
thence,  in  1'764,  to  America,  wher<*  he  displayed  great  energy  as 
a  pioneer.  But  when  the  Revolui; oa  broke  out,  he  lost  much  by 
the  Tiivages  of  the  tories  and  Indians.  Wishing  to  return  to 
Europe  in  1780,  he  obtained  a  safe-conduct  to  go  to  New  York, 
then  in  the  ha^y?  of  the  English.    Yet  he  was  detained  as  a  pris- 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  148. 

t  Tlie  first  trustees  were  Hector  St.  John  de  Crevecoeur,  Consul  ,■  f  France, 
Jose  Roiz  Silva,  J.  Stewart,  and  Henry  Duffy.  The  first  Mass  .-  said  in 
St.  Peter's  by  Father  Nugent,  November  4th,  1786.  The  sacristy,  portico, 
and  pews  were  not  finisho''.  till  179Sj. 


I 


354 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


oner  for  three  months,  and  having  reached  France  by  the  way  of 
Ireland,  was  api>ointed,  by  the  Minister  of  the  Marine,  French 
Oonsul  at  New  York.  He  accordingly  teturned  to  that  city  on 
the  19th  of  November,  LYSS,  and  his  lirs;  :are  ras  to  call  upon 
Mr.  V«''illiam  Seton,  the  father-in-law  of  the  future  fci^  -ilress  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Emnetsbur^.  Mr.  S^tou  ba<j  ^ndered 
great  service  to  Mr,  St.  John,  lu  1180,  in  obtaining  his  release 
from  prison,  and  the  hVcr  now  tjought  to  obtain  tidings  of  his 
wife  and  children,  whom  he  liad  left  on  his  fnrm  ;  bu ,  he  had 
the  affliction  to  learn  that  during  Ids  absence  his  wife  had  died, 
his  houi-ie  been  burnt,  and  his  chiUren  curned  ".T by  the  Indians. 
Hk  clkildren,  however,  carried  fmally  to  Boston,  had  been  recov- 
(ii-BQ  by  Mr.  Seton,  and  were  restored  to  their  father's  arms, 
ij  «>lng  his  stay  abroad,  he  published  in  English  his  "Letters  of 
an  American  Farmer,"  of  which  he  issued  also  a  French  edition, 
dedicated  to  the  infamous  Abbe  Raynal.  In  this  book,  Mr.  St. 
John  shows  himself  an  adherent  of  the  philosophic  school,  and 
profoundly  indiiferent  to  religion.  He  advances  this  religious  in- 
difference as  the  striking  point  of  the  American  character,  and 
pleasantly  'lotails  its  advantages.  Such  were  the  sentiments  of 
the  president  of  the  trustees  of  the  hrst  Catholic  church  in  New 
York  ;  and  we  need  not  wonder  if  the  body  showed  itself  rebel- 
lious to  its  pastor.* 


"■  Letters  of  an  Aiaerican  Farmer,  written  to  a  frienc'  in  England,  by 
Hector  St.  John,  a  Farmer  in  Pennsylvania.  Tha  letters  •  re  addressed  to 
W.  S**"*n,  Esq.  (Williain  Seton),  and  the  dedication  (dated  A'bany,  May  17, 
1781)  to  General  liafayette.  The  French  edition  is  edited  by  tho  eldei 
Laorctelle.  The  work  ran  through  several  editions,  and  was  much  en- 
larged. He  also  wrote  "  Voyage  dans  1r  Haute  Pennsylvanie,"  Paris,  1801. 
The  Dictionnaire  Historique  de  Bouillet  ausforms  him  into  "  Sir  John  de 
CrevecoBur,  an  American  Economist."  \\  returned  to  France  in  l^PS,  and 
died  in  1313. 


1 


by 

!d  to 

yi7, 

?ldei 
en- 

.801. 

in  tie 

and 


IN  THE    TJNITED  STATES. 


355 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

STATE    AND    DIOCESE    OF   NEW   YORK (1787-1813.) 

Father  O'Brien  and  the  yellow  fever  In  Now  York— The  negro,  Peter  Toussaint— The 
Abb*  Sibourg— Fathers  Kohlmann  and  Fenwick— Erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at 
New  York— Rt.  Rev.  Luke  Concanen,  first  bishop— His  death  at  Naples— Father 
Benedict  Fenwick,  administrator— The  New  York  Literary  Institution— Father  Fen- 
wick and  Thomas  Paine— Father  Kohlmann  and  the  secrecy  of  the  confessional. 

The  rising  Church  of  New  York,  so  vexed  for  some  years,  at 
last  found  rest  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Father  William 
O'Brien,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  whom  the  prefect-apostolic, 
towards  the  close  of  the  year  lYSY,  sent  to  replace  Mr.  Nugent. 
Father  O'Brien  was  a  highly  zealous  and  intelligent  priest,  who 
knew  how  to  fulfil  his  duties  so  as  to  edify  his  flock  and  please 
his  ecclesiastical  superior.  Soon  after  becoming  pastor  of  St. 
Peter's  he  proceeded  to  Mexico,  in  order  to  solicit  aid  for  the 
completion  of  his  church,  and  seems  to  have  been  replaced  du- 
ring his  absence  by  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Rourke,  whose  name  ap- 
pears in  the  New  York  City  Directory  from  1*790  to  1792.* 
The  Archbishop  of  Mexico  at  this  time,  Don  Alonzo  Nunez  de 
Haro,  had  been  a  fellow-student  of  Father  O'Brien's  at  Bologna, 
in  Italy,  ^nd  the  prelate  received  the  missionary  with  the  great- 
est cordiality.  Bishop  Bayley  found  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
trustees  that  Father  O'Brien  collected  in  Mexico  four  thousand 
nine  '  undred  and  twenty  dollars;  and  that  he  brought  besides 
bc'^eral  beautiful  paintings,  with  which  he  adorned  his  church, 
and  a  iioble  donation  of  one  thousand  dollars  made  him  by  the 


*  New  York  City  Directory  for  1791,  '2,  and  1792,  '8. 


856 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Bishop  and  Capter  of  Puebla  de  los  Angelos,  that  happy  city, 
which  holds  the  body  of  the  Blessed  Sebastian  de  la  Aparicion, 
the  only  beatified  servant  of  God  whose  body  reposes  in  North 
America.  This  was  not  the  only  occasion  when  the  clergy  and 
Catholics  of  Mexico  have  displayed  their  generosity  to  their 
brethren  in  the  faith  in  the  United  States.  Some  years  since, 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Magloire  Blanchet,  Bishop  of  Nesquely,  and  the  Rt. 
Rev.  John  Timon,  Bishop  of  Buffalo,  successfully  appealed  to 
Mexican  charity  for  the  necessities  of  their  dioceses,  as  did  also 
the  Jesuit  Fathers,  De  Luynes  and  Maldonado,  in  behalf  of  the 
college  of  their  Order  in  the  city  of  New  York.  These  are  facts 
which  should  remain  in  the  memory  of  the  faithful,  and  inspire 
lasting  gratitude  for  their  fellow  Catholics  of  Mexico. 

Father  O'Brien  di">played  all  the  qualities  of  a  g'^od  pastor, 
whether  in  preaching  the  word  of  God  to  the  faithful,  or  in  visit- 
ing the  sick  durag  the  ravages  of  the  yellow  fever,  which  for  a 
time  yearly  desolated  New  York.  The  scourge  was  most  severe 
in  the  summers  of  1Y95  and  1798,  and  the  good  Father  multi- 
plied himself  so  as  to  leave  none  of  his  dear  parishioners  without 
religious  succor.*  Among  them  he  found  a  compassionate 
being,  ever  ready  to  devote  himself  to  the  care  of  the  sick,  in  the 
person  of  a  young  negro,  full  of  more  piety  and  virtue  than  Mrs. 
Stowe  could  pour  into  the  hero  of  her  tale.  But  it  was  not  in 
the  chill  of  Protei:tantism  that  Peter  Toussaint  found  the  source 
of  his  charity.  He  did  not,  perhaps,  constantly  read  and  as 
constantly  misunderstand  the  Bible ;  but  he  nourished  his  soul 
daily  with  the  '•  Imitation  of  Christ,"  and  put  it  in  practice.  He 
did  not  set  himself  up  as  a  revolutionist,  exciting  a  war  of  races; 
but  he  spoke  to  meii  of  his  color,  more  of  their  duties  than  of 

*  The  victims  of  the  fever  in  1798  were  two  thousand  and  eighty-six,  of 
whom  eighty-six  were  interred  at  St.  Peter's.  Bardie's  account  of  the  ma- 
lignant fever;  New  York,  1791;.  This  gives,  however,  an  imperfect  idea  of 
the  number  of  deaths  among  the  Cathol.^s>,  as  many  were  buried  in  the  Pot- 
ter's '  leld. 


\ 


I 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


367 


I 


i 
"% 


their  rights,  and  his  name  deserves  to  be  known  and  esteemed 
by  all  American  Catholics,  as  it  has  been  for  sixty  years  by  the 
whole  population  of  New  York. 

Peter  Toussaint  was  born  in  1766,  on  the  plantation  of  Lati- 
bonite,  parish  of  St.  Mark,  in  the  island  of  St.  Domingo.     Son 
of  a  slave,  himself  a  slave,  he  soon  became  the  confidential  serv- 
ant of  his  master,  Mr.  John  Berard ;  and  when  the  revolution 
broke  out  in  the  island,  th3  latter  brought  him  to  New  York, 
where  he  left  him  with  Mj  dame  Berard  while  he  returned  to 
the  West  Indies  to  collect  the  wreck  of  his  fortune.    But  Mr. 
Berard  died  on  the  voyage,  leaving  his  wife  without  any  re- 
sources at  New  York,    Toussaint  was  the  sole  support  of  his 
mistress,  and  he  resolved  to  devote  the  whole  fruit  of  his  toil  to 
her  maintenance.    He  was  very  expert  as  a  ladies'  hairdresser, 
and  by  his  intelligence  and  politeness  he  soon  became  the  fash- 
ionable hairdresser  to  the  best  society  in  New  York.     Madame 
Berar*3,  wishing  to  be  no  longer  dependent  on  her  slave's  purse, 
subsequently  married  one  of  her  country nn  en,  Mr.  Nicolas,  who, 
after  being  a  rich  pla' ':r  in  St.  Domingo,  v'as  reduced  to  play 
the  violin  in  the  orchestras.     Toussaint,  howevrf    did  not  con- 
sider himself  exonerated  from  his  duty  to*  his  mistress,  and  con- 
tinued to  place  in  her  hands,  no  less  eagerly  than  delicately,  all 
his  savings.    Besides  this,  Toussaint  found  time  to  visit  the  sick 
in  their  houses,  and  the  incidents  related  of  his  charity  are  as 
numerous  as  they  are  touching.    One  day  he  learned  that  a 
poor  priest,  just  landed,  was  languishing  alone  in  a  garret,  a  prey 
to  the  typhoid  fever.    Toussaint  repaired  tn  the  spot,  brought 
the  sick  man  down  to  the  street  in  his  anui,  j/rocured  a  carriage, 
took  him  to  his  house,  and  nursed  him  till  he  recovered.     At 
another  time  the  yellow  fever  was  ravaging  New  York,  and 
raged  so  .iolently  in  Maiden  Lane  that  the  police  barricaded 
the  ends  r''  the  street  and  caused  the  survivors  to   remove. 
Toussaint  heard  that  a  woKian  had  been  abandoned  in  one  of 


{ 


858 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  houses ;  he  crossed  the  barrier,  and  took  his  place  by  her 
bedside,  lavishing  every  care  upon  her. 

In  1810  Madame  Nicolas,  on  her  death-bed,  emancipated  her 
fait',""!  i«'%t5,  and  God  blessed  Toussjaint's  charity  by  enabling 
L'Ui  to  a;quIro  a  modest  competence.  He  devoted  the  greater 
part  of  his  income  to  good  works,  and  not  content  with  gi  ;ing 
himself,  he  was  always  ready  to  go  round  with  subscription  lists 
for  churches,  convents,  orphan  asylums,  any  thing  that  concerned 
religion  and  cln-il}  ,t  ».en  he  thus  solicited  alms  for  others, 
he  knocked  at  the  doors  of  his  old  customers :  and  donations  of 
many  Protestant  families  to  works  essentially  Catholic  are  due 
to  the  influence  of  Toussaint.  Thus  he  lived  doing  good  till  the 
age  of  eighty-seven,  and  we  are  assured  that  for  sixty  years  he 
never  failed  to  hear  Mass  overy  morning.  Having  survived  his 
wife  and  children,  he  left  the  principal  part  of  his  property  to  a 
lady  who  had  been  one  of  his  kindest  patrons,  but  whom  an  un- 
fortunate marriage  had  reduced  to  the  utmost  misery.  He  died 
as  he  had  lived,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1  S-  1,  and  a  rich  P  '>testant 
lady  who  attended  his  funeral  thus  describes  it  in  a  priv..  letter 
to  a  friend : 

"I  went  to  town  on  Saturday  to  attend  Toussaint'e  fune  al. 
High  Mass,  incense,  candles,  rich  robes,  sad  and  solemn  music, 
were  there.  The  Church  gave  all  it  could  give  to  prince  or  noble. 
The  priest,  his  friend,  Mr.  Quin,made  a  most  interesting  address. 
He  did  not  allude  to  his  color,  and  scarcely  to  his  station ;  it 
seemed  as  if  his  virtues  as  a  man  and  a  Christian  had  absorbod 
all  other  thoughts.  A  stranger  would  not  have  suspected  that  a 
black  man,  of  his  humble  calling,  lay  in  the  midst  of  us.  He 
said  no  relat'  ve  \v  as  left  to  mourn  for  him,  yet  many  present 
would  feel  In  the  had  lost  one  who  always  had  wise  counsel 
for  the  rich,  words  >  <f  encouragement  for  the  poor,  and  all  would 
be  grateful  for  having  known  him. 

"  The  aid  he  had  given  to  the  late  Bishop  Fenwick,  of  Boston, 


IN  THE  UNITED  rfTATES. 


359 


to  Father  Po^^  era,  of  our  city,  to  all  the  Catholic  institutions, 
waft  dwelt  upon  at  large.  How  much  I  have  learned  of  his 
charitable  deeds  which  I  had  never  known  before  1  Mr.  Quin 
said :  '  There  were  left  few  among  the  clergy  superior  to  him  in 
devotion  and  zeal  for  the  Church  and  for  the  glory  of  God ; 
among  laymen,  none.' " 

Another  Protestant  lady,  Mrs.  H.  F.  Lee,  has  written  the  life 
of  the  venerable  negro,  to  whom  she  not  inaptly  applies  the  ex- 
pression of  the  old  English  author,  Thomas  Fuller:  "God's 
image  carved  in  ebony."*  The  abolitionists  of  Boston  justly  ex- 
tol the  virtues  and  intelligence  of  Toussaint,  and  his  merit  must 
have  been  of  no  ordinary  character  when  his  being  a  Catholic 
did  not  put  him  on  the  index  of  New  England  Puritanism.  For 
us,  who  know  that  men,  all  equal  before  God,  may  be  unequal 
on  earth,  we  admire  piety  wherever  it  shines  forth,  in  the  heart 
of  the  slave  as  in  the  soul  of  a  king. 

Father  William  O'Brien,  so  devoted  in  the  hour  of  pestilence, 
was  no  less  sensible  to  the  importance  of  giving  children  a 
Christian  education,  and  in  1 800  he  opened  a  free-school  in  St. 
Peter's  Church,  which  soon  numbered  five  hundred  pupils. 
About  the  same  time  the  Rev.  Matthew  O'Brien  arrived  from 
Ireland,  and  was  attached  to  the  same  paiish  in  New  York. 
The  latter  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  in  Ireland  as  a  preacher, 
where  a  volume  of  his  sermons  had  been  published.f  He  was 
consulted  by  Mrs.  Seton  in  the  long  indecision  which  preceded 
her  conversion,  and  he  enlightened  her  by  written  arguments  in 
reply  to  the  treatises  which  Dr.  Holtart  wrote  to  retain  that  vir- 
tuous lady  in  error.  We  have  ilro'idy  related  the  life  of  Mother 
Seton,  the  venerable  foundress  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Em- 

*  Memoir  of  Pierre  Toussaint,  born  a  Slave  in  St.  Domingo  ;  by  the  au- 
thor of  Three  Experiments  in  Living,  etc.,  etc. ;  third  edition.  Boston, 
Crosby  &  Nichols,  1854. 

t  Sermons  on  some  of  the  most  important  subjects  of  morality  and  reli- 
gion ;  by  the  Rev.  Matthew  O'Brien,  D.  D.    Cork,  James  Haly,  1798. 


ri 


860 


THE  CATHOLIC  OHUiiCII 


motsburg.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Matthew  O'Bi :.a  Iiad  the  consolation 
of  receiving  her  abjuration  in  St.  Peter's  Church  on  Ash  Wed- 
nesday, March  14,  1805;  on  the  25th  she  made  her  first  com- 
munion in  the  same  church,  and  on  the  26th  of  May  received 
confirmation  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Carroll.* 

In  1805  the  Abb6  Sibourd  was  an  assistant  pastor  at  St. 
Peter'fl  This  ecclesiastic  came  from  Europe  about  1798,  but 
we  do  not  know  in  what  parish  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  placed 
him  before  1805.  He  became  for  a  time  confessor  and  director 
of  Mother  Seton,  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  representations 
to  Bishop  Dubourg  that  the  latter  earnestly  urged  the  pious 
convert  to  leave  New  York  for  Baltimore.  When  Dr.  Dubourg 
was  consecrated  to  the  See  of  New  Orleans,  he  persuaded  his 
friend  to  accompany  him  to  his  diocese,  and  in  1820  Mr.  Sibourd 
was  Vicar-general  of  New  Orleans.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1 824, 
he  acted  as  assistant  to  Monseigneur  Dubourg  at  the  consecra- 
tion of  Bishop  Rosati,  which  took  place  in  the  parish  Church  of 
the  Assumption ;  and  when  the  former  prelate  left  America  in 
1826  to  fill  the  episcopal  See  of  Montauban,  Mr.  Sibourg  also 
returned  to  France,  and  died  Canon  of  Montauban.  Among  the 
letters  of  the  Rev.  Simon  Brute,  the  future  Bishop  of  Vincennes, ' 
is  a  letter  dated  in  1811,  with  the  following  passage :  "  Mr.  Du- 
bourg will  go  to  New  Orleans  as  spiritual  administrator,  as  Mr. 
Sibourd  absolutely  persists  in  refusing." 

It  is  impossible  to  follow  exactly  the  changes  in  the  clergy  at 
New  York ;  yet  it  is  certain  that  in  1805  a  Rev.  Dr.  CafFrey  ex- 
ercised the  holy  ministry  at  St.  Peter's.  In  180*7  the  Rev. 
Matthias  Kelly  aad  Rev.  John  B3rrne  also  resided  at  New  York, 
and  their  names  figure  in  a  list  of  subscribers  to  Pastorini's  His- 


*  The  Rev.  Wm.  O'Brien  continued  to  act  in  New  York  till  hia  death  on 
the  14ih  of  May,  1816,  though  not  apparently  a»  pastor.  Dr.  Matthew 
O'Brien,  however,  left  New  York  in  consequence  of  difficulties  which  arose, 
and  died  at  Baltimore  on  the  20th  of  October,  1816. 


tory  of  th 
These  twr 
year,  and 
Anthony 
with  four 
mer,  born 
in  1806  t( 
his  two  y 
general,  G 
3d  of  Sept 
novitiate  < 
priesthood 
two  Fathe 
presence  ( 
the  divisio 
1808,  Pop 
Baltimore 
Philadelph 

Father 
was  discha 
and  librari 
and  receiv 
at  the  han 
Bishop  Co 
was  sent  t< 
of  the  H< 
which,  at 
St.  Mary'6 
in  Rome, 
logical  stu 
he  was  sel 

*  At  the  e 
three  Domin 


IN    THK    UNITED  STATES. 


36' 


tory  of  the  Church,  published  by  Bernard  Dornin  in  that  ysivf. 
These  two  eccicsiaatics  probably  left  the  city  in  the  following 
year,  and  were  replaced  by  two  Jesuits  from  Georgetown — Father 
Anthony  Kohlmann  and  Father  Benedict  Fenwick — who  came 
with  four  inombi^rs  of  their  Order  to  found  a  college.  The  for- 
mer, born  in  Alsace  on  the  13th  of  July,  1771,  went  to  Russia 
la  1806  to  solicit  admission  into  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  after 
his  two  years'  novitiate,  was  sent  to  America  by  the  Superior- 
general,  Gabriel  Gruber.  The  latter,  born  in  Maryland  on  the 
3d  of  September,  1782,  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  the  Jesuit 
novitiate  opened  at  Georgetown  in  1806,  and  was  raised  to  the 
priesthood  in  the  following  year.  On  arriving  at  New  York  the 
two  Fathers  hoped  soon  to  be  gladdened  and  comforted  by  the 
presence  of  a  bishop.  Monseigneur  Carroll  had  long  solicited 
the  division  of  his  immense  diocese,  and  by  his  brief  of  April  8, 
1808,  Pope  Pius  VII.  had  acceded  to  the  request  by  erecting 
Baltimore  into  a  metropolitan  See,  and  creating  new  Sees  at 
Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and  Bardstown. 

Father  Luke  Concanen,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic,  who 
was  discharging  at  Rome  the  functions  of  prior  of  St  '"'ement's 
and  librarian  of  the  Minerva,  was  elected  Bishop  of  im  ■-.  -  uk, 
and  received  episcopal  consecration  on  the  24th  of  Ami,  I  '>08, 
at  the  hands  of  C-,ainal  Antonelli,  prefect  of  th».  P'opngHiKl.a. 
Bishop  Concanen  was  born  in  Ireland,  but  u.  .<  fjiiJei  igo 
was  sent  to  receive  the  white  habit  in  Lorraine,  in  mo  -  .v'ent 
of  the  Holy  Cross,  belonging  to  the  Irish  Dominicans,  from 
which,  at  the  expiration  of  his  novitiate,  he  was  reni  jved  to 
St.  Mary's,  in  the  Minerva,  commonly  called  "the  Minerva" 
in  Rome.  At  the  termination  of  his  "  college"  course  of  theo- 
logical studies,  during  which  he  had  acquired  great  distinction, 
he  was  selected  to  be  professor  in  St.  Clement's,*  the  college  of 

♦  At  the  epoch  of  the  so-called  Eeformation,  there  were  in  Ireland  forty- 
three  Dominican  'onvents,  of  which  twenty-three  had  been  founded  durityp 

16 


% 


862 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


the  Irish  Dominicana  in  the  same  capital,  and  then  commenced 
that  brilliant  career  in  jRome  which  ended  in  his  nomination 
by  the  Holy  See,  first,  to  the  See  of  Kilmacduagh  in  Ireland, 
and  afterwards  to  that  of  New  York,  then  erected  for  the  first 
time  into  a  diocese.  The  reasons  which  may  have  influenced  the 
Hcly  See  in  making  cliuice  of  Dr.  Concanen  for  promotion  to 
such  a  high  oflSce  in  the  Church  may  be  easily  explained.  For 
several  years  previously  he  had  filled  the  ofiice  of  Theologus 
Casanatensis,  a  chair  founded  at  the  Minerva  in  connection  with 
the  celebrated  library  there  instituted  and  endowed  by  the  mu- 
nificence of  the  illustrious  Cardinal  Casanate.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned that  according  to  the  terms  of  this  foundation  there  were 
usually  six  cathedratici  and  theologi,  one  being  selected  from 
each  of  the  great  provinces  of  the  Order  of  Preachers  in  Europe ; 
viz.,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  the  Low  Countries,  or  Poland.  The  Cardinal  was  devotedly 
attached  to  the  doctrines  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  among 
the  qualifications,  therefore,  for  the  oflBce  which  he  thus  insti- 
tuted, a  Mastership — that  is  to  say,  a  Doctorship,  acquired  by 
teaching  the  course  of  St.  Thomas — was  indispensably  necessary. 
Some  of  the  ablest  men  that  Rome  has  seen,  continued  to  repre- 
sent their  respective  countries  and  languages  in  the  oflSce  alluded 
to  up  to  the  period  of  the  first  French  Revolution,  and  not  the 
least  among  them  was  the  representative  of  the  Hibernian  Do- 
minicans, Dr.  Luke  Concanen.  While  residing  at  the  Minerva 
in  the  capacity  just  mentioned,  Dr.  Concanen  became  agent  to 
the  late  Dr.  Troy,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and  subsequently  to 


the  thirteenth  century.  St.  Clement's,  together  with  St.  Sixtus's,  was  made 
over  by  a  general  chapter  of  the  Order  shortly  after  the  suppression  of  con- 
vents in  Ireland  to  the  Hibernia  Dominicana,  for  the  purpose  of  educating 
missionaries  for  this  country.  A  similar  one  was  founded  in  Lisbon,  and 
another  in  Lorraine  (now  no  longer  in  existence),  and  these  were  the  means 
of  preservation  of  the  Dominican  Order  in  Ireland  during  the  days  of  perse- 
cution. 


"^"•'■'^'y^rv^''- 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


368 


all  the  bishops  of  Ireland.  It  might  be  said  that  such  was  the 
high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  at  the  Propaganda  while 
thus  engaged,  that  he  either  altogether  influenced  or  certainly- 
had  a  part  in  advising  every  appointment  that  was  made  for 
Ireland  and  the  British  colonies. 

It  may  be  worth  recording  that  Dr.  Concanen  was  well  known 
in  Rome  also  as  a  preacher  in  the  Italian  language — a  rare  thing 
for  a  foreigner  to  succeed  in,  or  even  attempt.  Between  his  du- 
ties at  the  Minerva  in  his  double  capacity  of  Theologus  Casana- 
tensis  and  feocius  (or  Secretary)  for  his  own  province  of  Ireland 
to  the  head  of  the  Order,  and  the  agencies  he  had  to  discharge  at 
the  Sacred  Congregations,  he  was  brought  into  immediate  and 
constant  contact  with  the  principal  authorities  at  Rome,  and  it  is 
therefore  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  been  solicited  on 
various  occasions  to  accept  such  a  mark  of  favor  as  a  mitre.  His 
motive  for  declining  the  honor  was  that  his  health  began  to  suf- 
fer from  the  eflfects  of  an  attack  of  dysentery,  and  he  dreaded 
coming  to  encounter  the  damp  climate  of  Ireland.  In  1810  he 
accepted  that  of  New  York  in  preference  to  the  one  offered  him 
in  his  native  land,  on  account  of  the  southern  latitude  of  the 
former  and  the  favorable  account  he  had  received  of  its  climate. 
Probably  the  disturbed  state  of  Italy,  then  overrun  with  invading 
and  hostile  armies,  had  its  weight  in  inducing  him  to  leave  the 
city  in  which  bis  heart  was  centred,  and  where  he  had  resided  for 
nearly  forty  years. 

He  had  long  taken  an  interest  in  the  Amencan  missions,  and 
it  was  chiefly  by  his  advice  that  the  first  convent  of  Dominicans 
had  been  founded  in  Kentucky  in  1805,  and  he  constantly,  as 
long  as  he  lived,  showed  himself  a  generous  benefactor  of  that 
house.  Wlien  nominated  to  the  See  of  New  York  he  accepted, 
believing  that  his  health  would  there  enable  him  to  discharge  the 
onerous  duties  which  the  episcopacy  in  a  newly-erected   See 


364 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


would  impose  upon  him.*  He  set  about  his  preparations,  in- 
tending, as  soon  as  he  took  possession  of  the  new  diocese,  to  call 
in  missionaries  of  his  Order.  Unfortunately,  death  struck  him 
down  before  he  could  leave  Italy,  and  this  prematu  -e  death, 
which  for  eight  years  deprived  New  York  of  a  bishop,  iefeated 
entirely  the  project  of  a  foundation  of  the  Dominicans. 

Soon  after  his  consecration  Bishop  Concanen  proceeded  to 
Leghorn,  in  order  to  proceed  to  his  See ;  but,  as  he  wrote  to 
Archbishop  Troy,  "  after  remaining  four  months  in  Leghorn  and 
its  environs,  at  a  hotel,  and  expending  a  very  considerable  sum 
of  money,  I  was  under  the  necessity  of  returning  to  this  city 
(Rome).  You  will  do  me  a  singular  favor  in  procuring  me  some 
information  from  Dr.  Carroll.  I  wish  to  know  what  assignment 
or  provision  there  is  for  the  support  of  the  new  bishop.  You 
will  oblige  me  by  any  information  on  this  head  before  my  depart- 
ure from  hence,  which  will  be  God  know&  when."f 

As  Father  Kohlmann  remarks  in  one  of  his  letters,  the  bishop, 
had  he  known  the  utter  absence  of  any  provision,  would  not,  in 
his  feeble  health,  have  attempted  to  take  possession  of  the  See ; 
but  of  this  he  was  unaware,  and  believing  the  task  not  beyond 
his  strength,  tried  all  means  in  his  power  to  repair  to  his  beloved 
flock ;  but  the  unhappy  circumstances  of  wars  and  revolutions 
always  prevented  him  from  attaining  the  end  of  his  most  ardent 
desires,  till  at  length  he  had  reason  to  believe,  after  a  series  of 
disappointments  and  expenses,  that  the  long-wished-for  period 
had  arrived  which  would  enable  him  to  obtain  a  passage  to 
America.  Naples  was  the  port  from  which  he  contemplated 
sailing,  whither  he  repaired  in  order  to  avail  himself  of  the  op- 
portunity of  a  vessel  there  bound  for  the  United  States.  He 
had  already  secured  his  passage,  when  the  government  of  Naples, 

*  Letter  of  Father  Robert  A.  White,  O.  S.  D.,  of  Dublin,  the  nephew  of 
Bishop  Concanen,  who  has  kindly  furnished  the  information, 
t  Letter  of  Father  Kohlmann,  communicated  by  Fath.r  G.  Fenwiok,  S.  J. 


I 


•:r',.wr-'^__-^\yf 


if 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


865 


* 


I 


informed  of  his  arrival  and  intention,  arrested  him  as  a  prisoner 
and  ordered  him,  under  the  severest  penalties,  not  to  embark  in 
any  vessel.  This  disappointment  is  thought  to  have  aflfected  him 
so  sensibly,  on  seeing  himself  probably  debarred  from  ever  being 
able  to  consecrate  the  remainder  of  his  days  to  the  welfare  of  his 
flock,  that  he  fell  dangerously  ill,  and  in  a  few  days  after,  not 
without  suspicion  of  poison,  terminated  his  exemplary  and  edify- 
ing life  in  the  great  convent  of  St.  Dominic,  in  the  city  of  Na- 
ples, on  the  19th  of  June,  1810.  There,  too,  on  the  following 
day,  were  celebrated  the  funeral  obsequies  of  the  first  Ci^tholic 
Bishop  of  New  York,  whose  desire  of  being  useful  had  induced 
him,  at  the  age  of  nearly  seventy,  to  take  the  resolution  of  com- 
ing to  this  country,  after  having  resided  nearly  forty  years  at 
the  Court  of  Rome,  where  he  had  rendered  signal  and  important 
services  to  the  Church  in  England  and  Ireland.* 

By  his  will,  made  doubtless  before  his  consecration,  he  be- 
queathed to  the  Dominican  Convent  of  St.  Rose,  in  Kentucky, 
his  rich  library  and  a  legacy  of  twenty  thousand  dollars ;  and 
these  were  also  lost  to  the  diocese  of  New  York.  The  Sovereign 
PontiflF  learned  with  deep  grief  the  death  of  a  prelate  whom  he 
honored  with  the  title  of  friend.  Pius  VII.  was  then  the  prisoner 
of  Napoleon,  and  in  this  situation  could  not  proceed  to  a  new 
jiomination.  The  See  of  New  York,  accordingly,  remained  va- 
cant, before  ever  having  been  occupied ;  and  it  was  only  in 
1814,  when  thf'  Holy  Father  returned  to  Rome,  in  the  plenitude 
of  his  power  and  liberty,  that  he  gave  a  successor  to  Bishop 
Concanen. 

During  this  long  and  sad  widowhood  of  the  Church  of  New 
York,  Father  Anthony  Kohlmann,  and  subsequently  Father  Fen- 
wick,  exercised  the  functions  of  Vicai-general. 

Of  the  state  of  Catholicity  in  New  York  at  the  period  when  it 


*  Notice  in  the  N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  October  6,  1810. 


366 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


was  thus  deprived  of  its  pastor,  we  find  an  account  in  the  letter 
of  Father  Kohhnaun  of  the  2 1st  of  March,  1 809.  "  Three  months 
ago,"  he  writes,  "  Archbishop  Carroll,  with  the  agreement  of  our 
worthy  Superiors,  sent  me  to  New  York  to  attend  the  congrega- 
tion, together  with  the  diocese,  till  the  arrival  of  our  Right  Rev. 
Bishop,  Richard  Luke  Concanen,  lately  consecrated  at  Rome. 
This  parish  comprises  about  sixteen  thousand  Catholics,  so  neg- 
lected in  every  respect,  that  it  goes  beyond  all  conception."  This 
Father,  with  his  zealous  coadjutor,  immediately  began  to  improve 
St.  Peter's,  and  excite  the  piety  of  the  faithful.  Their  efforts 
were  not  unrewarded.  Ere  long,  he  wrote,  consolingly:  "The 
communion-rail  daily  filled,  though  deserted  before ;  general  con- 
fessions eveiy  day  (for  the  majority  of  this  immense  parish  are 
natives  of  Ireland,  many  of  whom  have  never  seen  the  face  of  a 
priest  since  their  arrival  in  the  country)  ;  three  sermons,  in 
English,  French,  and  German,  every  Sunday,  instead  of  the  sin- 
gle one  in  English ;  three  Catechism  classes  every  Sunday,  in- 
stead of  one  ;  Protestants  every  day  instructed  and  received  into 
the  Church  ;  sick  persons  attended  with  cheerfulness  at  the  first 
call,  and  ordinarily  such  as  stand  in  great  need  of  instruction 
and  general  confessions ;  application  made  at  all  houses  to  raise  a 
subscription  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  by  which  means  three 
thousand  dollars  have  been  collected,  to  be  paid  constantly  every 
year." 

The  increased  number  of  the  faithful  in  New  York  called  loud- 
ly for  the  erection  of  a  new  church,  and  Father  Kohlmann  did 
not  shrink  from  undertaking  it.  A  large  plot  of  ground  was 
purchased  in  what  was  then  the  unoccupied  space  between 
Broadway  and  the  Bowery  road,  and  here  "  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kohlmann,  Rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church, 
and  Vicar-general  of  the  diocese,  amidst  a  large  and  respectable 
assemblage  of  citizens,  exceeding  three  thousand,"  on  Thursday, 
the  8th  of  June,  1809  ;  and,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion 


i 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


367 


'^ 


of  the  venerable  Archbishop  Carroll,  the  new  church  was  called 
St.  Patrick's. 

Father  Kohlmann  hoped  to  conclude  the  church  before*  the 
end  of  the  year,  but  owing  to  various  delays,  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Patrick  was  not  consecrated  till  Ascension-day,  1815,  when 
the  illustrious  Dr.  Cheverus,  Bishop  of  Boston,  performed  that 
ceremony,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the  city  taking  part  in 
the  procession,  with  the  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  who  directed  the 
temporal  affairs  of  the  new  church  till  181*7,  when  the  Legisla- 
ture, by  a  special  act,  created  a  new  board  of  trustees  for  the 
Cathedral.f 

Although  the  functions  of  the  parochial  ministry  must  have 
filled  up  the  days  of  Father  Kohlmann  and  Father  Fenwick,  the 
two  Jesuits  did  not  lose  sight  of  one  great  object  of  their  com- 
ing— the  education  of  youth.  They  had  brought  with  them  four 
young  scholastics  of  their  order,  Michael  White,  James  Red- 
mond, Adam  Marshall,  and  James  Wallace ;  and  early  in  1809 
opened  a  school,  the  basis  of  a  future  college.  Lots  in  front  of 
the  Cathedral  were  purchased  as  a  site,  and  in  July,  Father 
Kohlmann  wrote  :  "  As  to  our  school,  it  now  consists  of  about 
thirty-five  of  the  most  respectable  children  of  the  city,  both 
Catholics  and  of  other  persuasions,  among  whom  four  are  board- 
ing at  our  house,  and  in  all  probability  we  shall  have  seven  or 
eigat  boarders  next  August."  This  school  was  transferred  to 
Broadway  in  September,  but  in  the  following;  year  removed  to 
what  was  then  the  country,  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Fif- 
teenth-street. This  rising  college  now  assumed  the  name  of  The 
New  York  Literary  Institution,  and  was  the  instrument  of  im- 
mense good.  A  biographer  of  Bishop  Fenwick,  speaking  of  its 
usefulness,  remarks :  "  The  New  York  Literary  Institution,  under 


*  U.  S.  Catholic  Almanac,  1850,  p.  59. 

t  The  acts  bear  date  Aprii  11  and  April  14,  1817.    The  Roman  Catholic 
Benevolent  Asaociation  was  incorporated  about  the  sama  time. 


mmm 


-"--'iOT?5*.T<^l 


368 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


his  guidance,  reached  an  eminence  scarcely  surpassed  by  any  at 
the  present  day.  Such  was  its  reputation,  even  among  Prot- 
estants, that  Governor  Tompkins,  afterwards  Vice-president  of  the 
United  States,  thought  none  more  eligible  for  the  education  of 
his  own  children,  and  ever  afterwards  professed  towards  its  presi- 
dent the  highest  esteem." 

The  teachers  were  talented  men,  and  Mr.  Wiiilace,  who  y  :;s 
an  excellent  mathematician,  compiled  a  very  full  treatise  on 
Astronomy  and  the  Use  of  the  Globes,*  one  of  the  first  contri- 
butions of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  America  to  exact  science,  a 
field  in  which  Fathers  Curley,  Sestini,  and  others,  have  since  so 
successfully  labored.  Besides  those  already  named.  Father  Peter 
Malou,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Gobert,  lay  teacher,  aided  in  the  work  of 
instruction. 

It  soon  became,  however,  painfully  evident  to  Fathers  Kohlmann 
and  Fenwick,  that  in  the  actual  position  of  the  society,  it  was  im- 
possible for  them  to  carry  on  the  college.  At  this  time,  it  will  be 
remembered,  the  illustrious  Pontiff,  Pius  VII.,  had  not  restored 
to  the  Christian  world  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  it  existed  in  Russia, 
Sicily,  and  America,  but  the  distance  between  these  countries 
prevented  its  development,  and  even  ready  intercourse. 

As  soon  as  the  fact  became  known,  Archbishop  Carroll  and 
his  holy  coadjutor  were  deeply  grieved,  though  both  felt  the  pro- 
priety of  the  step.  The  college  actually  contained  seventy-four 
boarders  in  1813,  and  the  prelates  sought,  if  possible,  to  maintain 
it,  if  the  Jesuits  withdrew.  Father  John  Grassi,  then  Superior  of 
the  American  Jesuits,  in  a  letter  to  Father  Kohlmann,  exposes 

*  A  New  Treatise  on  the  Uro  of  the  Globes  and  Practical  Astronomy,  by 
J.  Wallace,  member  of  the  New  York  Literary  Institution.  New  York : 
8mith  &  Fonnan,  1812,  512  pp.  James  "Wallace,  born  in  Ireland,  about  1783, 
died  on  the  lo.ii  of  January,  1851,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  in  Lexington 
District,  S  juth  Cirolina.  He  was  for  many  years  Professor  of  Mathematics 
in  the  coJege  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  occasionally,  however,  exercising  the  min- 
istry. 


rr 


IN  THE    UNITED  STAl'BS. 


369 


the  interest  felt  concerning  this  institution  of  learning :  "  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Marechal,  a  Sulpitian,  paid  a  short  visit  to  this  college 
(Georgetown).  It  is  confidently  asserted  that  he  is  to  be  Bishop 
of  New  York,  and  the  great  concern  he  showed  for  the  Literary 
Institution  confirms  me  in  this  idea.  I  exposed  to  him  our  situa- 
tion, the  want  of  members,  and  he  was  sensible  that  such  an  in- 
stitution is  onus  insupportabile  for  us,  in  our  present  circum- 
stances, and  for  several  years  to  come.  I  consulted  again,  quite 
lately,  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Carroll  on  this  very  subject ; 
and  he  answered,  that  as  the  want  of  proper  persons  to  carry  it 
on  is  evident,  this  ought  to  be  represented  to  those  who  are  con- 
cerned in  it.'* 

The  Fathers  could  not  foresee  the  speedy  restoration  of  their 
Society,  nor  its  subsequent  wonderful  progress.  In  the  summer 
of  1813,  they  retired  from  the  direction  of  the  college,  in  which 
they  had  endeared  themselves  to  their  pupils  and  won  the  admi- 
ration of  the  best  families  in  the  city,  Protestant  as  well  as 
Catholic. 

Another  religious  order  was  at  this  momeni  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  to  their  care  the  Fathers  of  St.  Ignatius  resigned  the 
care  of  the  college  which  they  had  created.  This  order  was  the 
monks  of  La  Trappe,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  hereafter.  Mean- 
while, we  return  to  the  apostolic  labors  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Socieby  of  Jesus. 

Th  3  two  eminent  Jesuits,  Father  Benedict  Fenwick  and  Father 
Anthony  Kohlmann,  were  only  a  few  months  at  New  York,  when 
they  were  called  to  the  death-bed  of  one  of  tho  greatest  eceraies 
of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  infidel  who  played  in  America 
the  part  of  A^oltaire  in  France,  and  who  had  tlie  odious  glory  of 
creating  in  the  New  World  a  school  of  anti  Christian  philosophy. 
The  visit  of  the  two  priests  inspired  the  dying  man  with  no  salu- 
tary refiectiops.  He  was  already  abandoned  by  God,  and  given 
up  to  despair  ;  but  the  details  of  this  inter\dew,  nevertheless,  de- 

16* 


H 


mmmm 


"  J^ili^^v  ||ii|)f  p 


870 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


serve  to  be  known,  to  show  to  what  an  awful  state  of  degradation 
impiety  falls,  when  in  the  presence  of  death. 

Thomas  Paine,  born  in  Norfolkshire,  England,  on  the  29th  of 
January,  1737,  was  successively  a  staymaker,  a  political  writer 
in  America,  an  envoy  from  Congress  to  Louis  XVI.,  and  finally, 
representative  of  Calais  at  the  National  Convention.  This  cos- 
mopolitan philosopher,  who  did  not  even  speak  French,  neverthe- 
less sat  as  judge  on  the  king,  whose  favor  he  had  gone  to  seek 
eleven  years  before.  Returning  to  private  life,  Paine  wrote  in 
France  his  infamous  work,  "  The  Age  of  Reason,'  in  which  he 
attacks  revelation,  and  preaches  up  natural  religion.  His  disso- 
lute life  having  discredited  him  at  Paris,  he  returned  to  the 
United  States,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 
Here  he  published  works  hostile  to  religion,  and  died,  consumed 
by  his  debaucheries,  at  Greenwich  Village,  near  New  York,  on 
the  8th  of  June,  1809. 

A  fortnight  before  his  death,  the  philosopher,  seeing  himself 
abandoned  by  his  physicians,  was  plunged  into  a  gloomy  despair. 
Amid  the  silence  of  the  night,  he  was  heard  crying,  "  Lord ! 
help  me  !  My  God,  what  have  I  done  to  suffer  so  ?  ±Jut  there 
is  no  God.  Yet,  if  there  is  a  God,  what  will  become  of  me  ?" 
He  could  not  bear  to  be  left  alone,  and  begged  to  have  at  least 
a  child  near  the  bed,  in  which  he  wallowed  in  abject  filth. 
Seeking  new  remedies  in  every  direction,  Paine  saw  a  Shaking 
Quakeress,  whom  Father  Fenwick  had  baptized  some  weeks  be- 
fore ;  and  she  told  him  that  no  one  but  a  Catholic  priest  could 
do  him  any  good.  The  wretched  freethinker^  who  cared  only 
for  his  body,  immediately  believed  that  a  priest  might  prolong 
for  a  few  days  his  wretched  existence ;  and  he  immediately  sent 
for  Father  Fenwick.  The  latter,  who  was  then  only  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  dreaded  his  own  inexperience,  and  begged  his  col- 
league, Fat'.er  Kohlmann,  to  accompany  him,  and  the  two  Jes- 
uits proceeded  to  the  house  of  the  infidel.    But  as  soon  as  Paine 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


871 


^ 


saw  his  erroi  -as  soon  as  he  heard  his  pious  visitors  speak  to 
him  of  his  soul,  instead  of  prescribing  a  remedy  for  his  physical 
evils,  he  imperiously  silenced  them,  refused  to  listen,  and  ordered 
them  out  of  the  room.  "  Paine  was  roused  into  a  fury,"  wrote 
jb'tther  Fenwiclr  giving  «  >  account  of  this  interview  :  "  he  grit- 
ndu  his  teeth,  twisted  and  turned  himself  several  times  in  his  bed, 
uttering  all  the  while  the  bitterest  imprecations.  I  firmly  be- 
lieve, such  was  the  rage  in  which  he  was  at  this  time,  that  if  ho 
had  had  a  pistol,  he  would  have  shot  one  of  us ;  for  he  conduct- 
ed himself  ujorc  .  L:e  a  madman  than  a  rational  creature.  '  Be- 
gone,' says  he,  *  and  trouble  me  no  more.  I  was  in  peace,'  he 
continued,  '  till  you  came.  Away  with  you,  and  your  God,  too ; 
leave  the  room  instantly :  all  that  you  have  uttered  are  lies — 
filthy  lies ;  anu  if  I  had  a  little  more  time  I  would  prove  it,  as  I 
did  about  your  impostor,  Jesus  Christ.'  '  Let  us  go,'  said  I  then, 
to  Father  Kohlmann  :  '  we  have  nothing  more  to  do  here.  Ho 
seems  to  be  entirely  abandoned  by  God  !'  "* 

Thomas  Paine  soon  expired,  in  the  anguish  of  despair,  having 
repulsed  the  L^ilixisters  of  Protestantism  as  obstinately  as  he  drove 
away  the  Catholic  priests.  For  him,  as  for  Voltaire,  death  was 
the  most  fearful  of  trials;  and  tie  recollection  of  their  blasphe- 
mies haunted  hoth  in  their  last  moments,  and  made  them  en- 
dure by  anticv  ition  the  tortures  of  another  life.  They  knew 
only  remorse,  for  oheir  pride  closed  the  way  to  repentance.  In 
both  cases,  priests  came  with  unequalled  charity  to  save  these 
souls  from  the  flames  of  hell ;  for  priestly  devotedness  braves 
the  outrages  of  the  dying  infidel,  as  it  does  the  miasma  of  con- 
tagion at  the  bed  of  the  plague-stricken.  In  France,  Voltaire 
has  lost  the  glli  tor  of  his  popularity ;  but  in  America,  the  wide- 


*  Death-bed  of  Tom  Paine.  Extract  from  a  lettt  of  Bishop  Fenwiok  to 
his  brother  in  6e  igetown  College.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  v.  558.  The 
Bi<^aphie  Universelle  mentions  briefly  hia  interview  with  two  CBthoIio 
prieBtB. 


'T'^#»f- 


872 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


spread  tiect  of  infidels  more  and  more  honor  the  memory  of 
Paine,  as  the  greatest  benefactor  of  humanity.  The  anniversary 
of  his  b  r  .  k  celebrated  by  the  partisans  of  his  impiety.  ITiey 
asccJttble  at  gorgeous  banquets  and  festi'  i!i?B  :  ladies,  children, 
whole  families,  take  part  in  these  glorificc'Juxid  of  atheism.  They 
drink  to  the  extinction  of  all  religions,  to  the  overthrow  of  all 
priesthood,  and,  blaspheming  the  name  of  God,  dance  on  the 
very  threshold  of  eternity. 

Some  years  later.  Father  Kohlmann  had  occasion  to  render  an 
important  service  to  religion  by  firmly  resisting  the  orders  of  a 
tribunal,  which  called  upon  him  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  the  con- 
fessional. This  afiair,  which  produced  a  great  sensation  in  the 
United  States,  suddenly  arose,  from  a  combination  of  very  com- 
monplace circumstances.  A  Catholic  merchant,  Mr.  James  Keat- 
ing, entered  a  complaint,  in  the  month  of  March,  1813,  against 
a  man  named  Phillips,  and  his  wife,  for  receiving  stolen  goods, 
which  belonged  to  him.  Soon  after,  two  negroes,  Bradley  and 
Brinkerhofl^,  were  suspected  of  being  the  thieves ;  but  before 
the  /rial  came  on,  Mr.  Keating  recovered  his  property,  and  asked 
m  Imvo  ihe  case  dismissed.  This  was  out  of  the  question ;  and 
Oil  hdhig  asked  his  reasons,  Keating  stated  that  restitution  had 
been  made  to  him  through  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kohlmann,  who  was 
immediately  cited  as  a  witness,  to  prove  from  whom  he  had  re- 
ceived the  stolen  property.  Father  Kohlmann  appeared,  but 
declined  to  answer,  denying  the  right  of  the  court  to  question  a 
priest  as  to  facts  which  are  unknown  to  him  except  through  the 
confessional.  He  availed  himself  of  the  circumstance  to  set 
forth  at  length  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  the  sacrament  of 
penance ;  and  his  discourse,  heard  with  attention  by  a  vast  throng, 
was  spread  and  commented  on  by  the  press,  provoking  passion- 
ate discussions  on  the  part  of  several  Protestant  ministers.  The 
question  of  the  admissibility  of  the  evidence,  and  of  the  right  of 
exemption  claimed  by  Father  Kohlmann,  were  now  a  more  im- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


373 


portant  matter  than  the  conviction  of  two  negroes.  A  day  was 
appointed  for  the  argument  of  the  point  whetlier  i  aher  Kohl- 
mann  should  be  committed  for  contempt  of  court  in  refusing  to 
answer.  The  pleading  of  the  counsel,  the  deliberation  of  the 
judges,  the  thousand  technicalities  of  American  law,  prolonged 
the  affair  for  two  months;  and  at  last,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1813, 
the  Honorable  De  Witt  Clinton,  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  President 
of  the  Cuurt  of  General  Sessions,  pronounced  the  decision  of  the 
court.  After  s  n  'ections  remarkable  for  the  wisdom  of  .»i 
viev  9  and  a  spirit  ih  crality  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  r  i  .,'i>n 
this  distinguisi  .  n  concluded  that  u  priest  could  not  be  called 
upon  to  testify  a  cts  known  to  hira   )nly  by  virtue  of  his 

ministry ;  and  hiti  opinion  concludes  with  these  words : 

"  We  speak  of  this  question  not  in  a  theological  sense,  but  in 
its  legal  and  constitutional  bearings.  Mthough  we  differ  from 
the  witness  and  his  brethren  in  our  religious  creed,  yet  we  have 
no  reason  to  question  the  purity  of  their  motives,  or  to  impeach 
their  good  conduct  as  citizens.  They  are  protected  by  the  laws 
and  constitution  of  this  country,  in  the  full  and  free  exercise  of 
their  religion ;  and  this  court  can  never  countenance  or  author- 
ize the  application  of  insult  to  their  faith,  or  of  torture  to  their 
consciences."* 

The  principle  maintained  by  Father  Kohlmann  was  thus  adopt- 
ed by  the  tribunal ;  but  it  might,  like  any  other  solution  of  juris- 
prudence, be  again  called  in  question.  However,  in  1828,  when 
De  Witt  Clinton  was  governor  of  the  State,  the  Legislature  of 
New  York,  in  its  Revised  Statutes,  adopted  a  clause  which  pre- 
vented any  renewal  of  the  attempt,  by  deciding  that  "  no  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  or  priest  of  any  denomination  whatsoever, 
shall  be  allowed  to  disclose  any  confessions  made  to  him  in  his 


*  The  Catholic  Question  in  America: — Whether  a  Roman  Catiiolic  Clergy- 
man be,  in  any  case,  compelled  to  disclose  the  Secrets  of  Auricular  Confea- 
sion.     New  York  :  Edward  Gillespie,  1818,  p.  114. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

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874 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


\  * 


9 


professional  character,  in  the  course  of  discipline  enjoined  by  the 
rules  or  practice  of  such  denomination."*  Yet  this  law  has  no 
force  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  a  simi- 
lar discussion,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  took  place  in  Virginia  in 
1855,  proves  that  other  States  need  to  imitate  New  York,  and 
fill  up  this  omission  in  their  code.  '  '    '" 

Father  Eohlmann  published  the  whole  proceeding,  followed 
by  a  very  full  exposition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  the 
sacrament  of  penance  ;  find  this  book  excited  several  refutations 
from  the  Protestant  clergy.  .The  most  elaborate  was  that  from 
the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Charles  H.  Wharton,f  who,  after  having  been 


* 


*  R.  S.,  Pt.  iii.,  Ch.  vii.,  Art.  8,  Sec.  72.  t 

It  is  an  error  in  Cretineau  Joly  to  represent  this  an  a  qneation  of  life  or 
death  for  Cutliolicity.  No  :  Catholicity  would  not  be  dead  in  America  if  the 
court  had  ordered  the  Jesuit  to  reveal  the  secret  of  the  confessional.  As 
Father  Eohlmann  woald  have  refused,  he  would  have  been  condemned  to 
imprisonment  for  hia  contempt  during  the  term  of  the  court,  and  no  longer. 
The  law  of  1828  has  not  been  imitated  in  other  States  which  have  no  law  to 
protect  the  conscience  of  the  clergyman ;  y^^t  the  recent  affair  at  Kichmoud 
is  almost  the  only  example,  since  Father  Rohlmann's,  in  which  n  court  has 
sought  to  intrude  between  the  prieat  and  his  penitent.  The  case  in  1818  is 
important  chiefly  from  the  fact  that  it  drew  the  attention  of  Protestantd  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  gave  a  wide  circulation  to  Father  Eohl- 
munn'a  eloquent  exposition. 

t  Charles  H.  Wharton,  bom  in  Maryland  in  1748,  was  ordained  in  Eniarland 
in  1760.  He  was  pastor  at  Worcester  when,  in  1788,  he  left  his  parish  and 
came  back  to  America.  The  next  year  he  published  "  A  Letter  to  the  Boman 
Catholics  of  Worcester,"  to  announce  that  he  had  gone  over  to  Protestantism, 
and  justifying  the  stop.  The  Kev.  John  Carroll  replied,  in  '*  An  Address 
to  the  Boman  Catholics  of  the  United  Sttites  of  America,  by  a  Catholic  Cler- 
gyiniin,"  Annapolis,  1784;  and  tiiis  noble  refutation  confirmed  the  minds  of  " 
Catholics,  disquieted  and  mortified  at  Wharton's  apostasy.  That  gentleman 
became  JSpisoopal  minister  at  Burlington,  New  Jersey,  where  he  resided  till 
his  death  in  1888,  at  the  ago  of  eighty-six.  He  was  twice  married,  and  died 
before  the  arrival  of  a  priest  for  whom  he  had  sent.  Strange  to  say,  the 
man  who  so  combated  confession,  heard  a  confession  and  gave  absolution  in 
1832.  His  Catholic  servant-girl,  dangerously  sick,  was  begging  for  a  priest; 
none  could  be  found ;  and  Mr.  Wharton  told  her,  "  Although  I  am  a  minis- 
ter, I  am  also  a  Catholic  priest,  and  can  give  absolution  in  your  case ;"  which 
he  accordingly  did.  His  controversy  with  Carroll  is  published  under  the 
titl«.  "  A  Concise  View  of  the  Principal  Points  of  Controvtmiy  betwelen  th« 


, 


IN  teB   UNITED  STATES. 


876 


iw 


a  priest  for  twenty-four  years^  fell,  unhappily,  into  apostasy. 
This  man,  now  quite  aged,  seeing  the  eflFect  produced  by  "  The 
Catholic  Question,"  seized  his  envenomed  pen  to  defame  anew 
the  faith  of  his  ancestors.  His  pamphlet  drew  a  learned  reply 
from  the  Rev.  S.  F.  O'Gallagher,*  a  Catholic  priest  of  Charleston, 
to  which  Wharton  retorted  in  a  second  pamphlet.  The  length 
and  duration  of  this  controversy  show  how  widely  had  been 
spread  the  defence  of  Father  Eohlmann ;  and  the  learned  Jesuit 
followed  up  this  work  by  a  more  extended  publication,  in  refuta- 
tion .of  the  errors  of  the  modem  Arians,  known  in  the  United 
States  as  Unitarians.  -  - 

In  the  widowed  state  in  which  the  Church  of  New  York  lan- 
guished, deprived  of  a  bishop.  Fathers  Fenwick  and  Kohlmann 
neglected  nothing  to  prevent  the  Church  fr-»Tn  suflfering  from  the 
vacancy  of  the  See  ;  and  as  they  had  sought  to  provide  for  the 
education  of  young  men,  so,  too,  they  actively  endeavored  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  other  sex.  We  read  in  a  letter  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Brut6  to  Bishop  Flaget,  on  the  16th  of  April,  1812  : 
"  Two  Irish  priests  have  just  arrived  at  New  York ;  one  of  them 
of  great  merit,  the  archbishop  says.  With  these  two  gentlemen 
came  three  Ursulines  for  Mr.  Eohlmann,  who  wished  to  found  a 


Protestant  and  Boman  Churches,  hy  the  Bev.  C.  H.  Wharton,  D.  D.  New 
York,  1817." 

*  "  A  Brief  Reply  to  a  Short  Answer  to  a  True  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Catholic  Church  touching  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  by  S.  F.  O'Gal- 
lagher.   New  York,  1815." 

In  1798,  the  Rev.  Dr.  O'Gallaghc-r,  a  native  of  Dublin,  was  sent  to 
Charleston  by  Bishop  Carroll,  and  Bishop  England  calls  him  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinary eloquence,  of  a  superior  intellect,  and  finely  cultivated  mind. 
"  While  zealously  exorcising  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  he  was  obliged  to 
teach  for  his  support.  In  the  Life  of  the  celebrated  Attorney-general,  Hugh 
Swinton  Legar^,  it  is  related  that  no  competent  Latin  teacher  could  be 
found  for  this  descendant  of  the  Huguenots  but  Dr.  O'Gallagher.  This 
missionary  was  sent  to  Savannah  in  1817,  and  some  years  after  went  to 
Louisiana."  Bishop  England's  WorKs,  iii.  251.  Writings  of  Hugh  Swinton 
Legar6,  i.  xii. 


876 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHU)tCH 


convent  with  them."  These  three  religious,  named  Christina 
Fagan  (Sister  Mary  Ann),  Superior,  Sarah  Walsh  (Sister  Frances 
de  Chantal),  and  Mary  Baldwin  (Sister  Mary  Paul),  are  the  first 
who  have  resided  in  the  diocese  of  New  York.  They  came  from 
the  celebrated  Blackrock  convent  at  Cork,  in  Ireland,  and  were 
obtained  by  Father  Kohlmann  through  Father  Betagh,  of  Lon- 
don ;  and  notwithstanding  the  short  duration  of  their  establish- 
ment, which  did  not  exceed  three  years,  they  deserve  that  we 
should  give  a  brief  account  of  their  too  little  known  Institute. 

From  the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  by  Henry  VIII.  till 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Ireland  possessed,  so  to 
say,  no  religious  community  of  women ;  and,  as  is  known,  all 
Catholic  teaching  was  forbidden,  under  the  severest  penaltie8.i 
About  1760,  a  holy  young  woman.  Miss  Nano  Nagle,*  touched 
at  the  wants  of  the  people,  resolved  to  devote  herself  to  the  edu- 
cation of  poor  children,  and  secretly  opened  schools,  first  at  Dub- 
lin, and  afterwards  at  Cork.  Some  companions  joined  her  in 
this  good  work  ;  but,  to  give  it  permanence,  it  was  necessary  to 
bind  them  by  the  vows  of  religion,  and  following  the  advice  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Moylan,f  afterwards  Bishop  of  Cork,  four  of  them 
set  out  for  Paris,  to  make  their  novitiate  with  the  Ursulines  at 
St.  Jacques.  They  began  it  on  the  6  '.  September,  1769,  and 
on  the  18th  of  September,  1771,  tooK  possession  of  the  house 


*  Miss  Nano  Nagle,  born  &t  Ballygriffin,  on  the  banks  of  the  Black- 
water,  in  1728,  belonged  to  a  distinguished  Irish  family.  She  died  April 
26,  1784. 

t  Colonel  Moylan,  aid-de-camp  to  Washington  during  t'ae  Revolutionary 
War,  was  brother  of  this  bishop.  Washington  attached  him,  for  a  time,  to 
the  person  of  the  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  major-general  in  Rochambeau's 
tormy ;  and  the  marquis  'lays,  in  his  memoirs,  "  Colonel  Moylan  is  a  Catholic. 
One  of  his  brothers  is  Bishop  of  Cork,  another  a  merchant  at  Cadiz,  a  third 
a  merchant  at  L'Orient,  a  fourth  at  home,  and  a  fifth  studying  for  the  priest- 
hood." The  Bishop  of  Cork  had  also  a  sister,  Miss  Louisa  Moylan,  who 
was  the  first  to  join  the  Ursulines  on  their  arrivd  at  Cork  in  1771,  where  she 
died  in  1842,  at  the  age  of  ninety. 


fl 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


877 


which  had  been  prepared  for  their  reception  at  Cork.  It  was 
not,  however,  till  1779  that  they  ventured  to  aesurae  the  habit 
of  their  order,  so  great  was  the  dread  of  the  penal  laws  under 
which  Ireland  then  groaned. 

Miss  Nagle  had  not  accompanied  her  companions  to  France, 
but  h^  continued  to  direct  her  schools  in  Ireland,  and  on  the 
return  of  the  young  Ursulines  to  Cork,  joined  the  community  of 
which  she  is  regarded  as  the  foundress.  She  soon,  however,  per- 
ceived that  her  vocation  called  her  to  devote  herself  exclusively 
to  poor  children,  while  the  Institute  of  the  Ursulines  undertakes 
principally  the  education  of  the  more  wealthy  classes.  Miss 
Nagle  accordingly  left  the  Ursulines,  and  recruited  new  auxilia- 
ries, who  became,  with  her,  the  root  of  the  Presentation  order. 
It  was  only  after  her  death,  and  in  September,  1791,  that  Pope 
Pius  VI.  approved  the  object  of  the  Institute,  and  recognized  its 
existence.  That  of  the  Ursulines  had  been  approved  by  Pope 
Clement  XIV.,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1773  ;  so  that  the  same 
lady  has  the  glory  of  having  founded  two  communities  which 
now  cover  Ireland  w'th  convents,  and  which  have  more  than 
twenty  thousand  girls  in  their  academies  and  schools.* 

The  Ursulines  of  New  York  were  incorporated  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1814,  and  even  prior  to 
that,  they  had  opened  an  academy  and  poor-school.  But  they 
had  come  to  America  on  the  express  condition,  that  if  in  three 
years  they  did  not  receive  a  certain  number  of  novices,  they 
should  return  to  Ireland.  The  Catholics  were  poor,  vocations 
few,  and  among  the  young  women  who  would  have  entered, 
none  could  furnish  the  dowry  required  by  the  Ursulines.    They 


*  The  Life  of  Miss  Nano  Nagle,  Foundress  of  the  Presentation  order,  by 
the  late  Right  Kev.  Dr.  Coppinger,  Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  Ross :  Dublin, 
1843.  Dublin  Review  for  1S44,  p.  863-386.  There  were  in  Ireland,  in  1844, 
four  Ursuline  convents,  and  thirty  of  the  Order  of  the  Presentation ;  and 
the  number  has  greatly  increased  there  and  in  the  colonies  since. 


fe 


873 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


V 


accordingly  left  New  York  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  fixed 
upon,  and  it  was  not  till  1855  that  religious  of  the  same  order, 
coming  from  St.  Louis,  restored  to  the  diocese  of  New  York  the 
daughters  of  St.  Angela.  The  convent  of  1812  was  situated 
near  the  Third  Avenue,  about  SOth-street,  and  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Huddard,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  as  a 
boarding-school.* 

The  Ursulines  had  for  aome  time  as  chaplains  the  Trappist 
Fathers,  of  whom  we  have  spoken ;  but  the  stay  of  these  sons 
of  St.  Bernard  "was  only  temporary.  The  storm  of  persecution 
drove  them  to  the  New  "World;  and  when  the  tempest  had 
spent  its  fury,  they  returned  to  the  European  monasteries  from 
which  they  had  been  driven.  In  1*791,  the  French  Government 
having  seized  the  property  of  the  monks  of  La  Trappe,f  twenty- 
four  of  the  religious,  guided  by  Dom  Augustine,  sought  a  refuge 
at  Val  Sainte,  in  the  canton  of  Fribourg,  where  they  wera  nobly 
welcomed  by  the  cantonal  authorities.  They  arrived  there  on 
the  1st  of  June,  1791,  and  under  the  able  administration  of  Dom 
Augustine,  they  had  gathered  their  brethren,  dispersed  by  the 
Reign  of  Terror,  and  sent  colonies  in  various  directions,  when 
the  invasion  of  Switzerland  by  a  French  army  compelled  the 
Trappists  to  abandon  in  all  haste  their  holy  asylum,  in  the 
month  of  February,  1*798.  They  wandered  in  various  parts  of 
Bavaria  and  Austria,  without  finding  a  spot  to  rest  their  weary 


*  The  Ureuline  order  was  founded  in  1587,  at  Brescia,  diocese  of  Verona, 
by  Angela  Merici,  born  in  1511,  at  Dezenzano,  on  the  Lago  de  Garda.  She 
died  in  1540,  and  was  canonized  in  1807.  She  put  her  spiritual  daughters 
under  the  protection  of  St.  Ursula,  who  had,  about  450,  governed  so  many 
virgins,  and  led  them  to  martyrdom. 

t  The  Abbey  of  Our  Lady  of  La  Trappe  is  situated  in  the  department  of 
Orne,  near  Mortaque.  Founded  in  the  year  1140,  and  occupied  by  monks  of 
the  Order  of  Citeaux,  it  was  reformed,  in  1662,  by  the  Abb6  de  Banco.  The 
name  of  La  Trappe  has  since  been  given  to  all  the  monasteries  which  have 
adopted  the  reform  of  Abb6  de  Bance.  In  1791  there  were  at  La  Trappe 
fifty-five  choir  monks  and  thirty-seven  lay-brothers. 


ri 


IN  THE    UNITED   STATES. 


379 


heads,  till  at  last  the  Emperor  Paul  I.  promised  them  hospitality 
in  his  States,  and  the  courageous  monks  aiTived  in  Russia  in 
August,  1799.  But  their  quiet  was  not  to  be  of  long  duration. 
The  following  year,  the  Czar  issued  a  ukase,  ordering  all  French 
emigrants  to  leave  his  States,  and  the  Trappists  resumed  their 
route  on  the  13th  of  April,  1800.  Austria  closed  its  frontiers  to 
Dom  Augustine  and  his  companions  ;  they  had  humbly  to  ask 
a  refuge  from  Protestant  Prussia,  which  temporarily  granted  the 
favor  so  brutally  refused  by  Catholic  Austria.  Then  it  was  that 
the  Trappists  resolved  to  seek  an  asylum  in  America;  and  a 
party  of  them,  under  the  guidance  of  Father  Urban  Guillet,  em- 
barked at  Amsterdam  for  Baltimore  on  the  29th  of  May,  1803. 
They  arrived  on  the  4th  of  September,  and  after  a  brief  sojourn 
at  Pigeon  Hill,  in  Pennsylvania,  set  out  for  Kentucky  in  the 
month  of  July,  1805.  The  story  of  their  labors  in  that  State 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Louis  will  find  its  place,  in  due 
time,  in  another  part  of  this  history. 

Meanwhile,  the  horizon  cleared  for  a  moment  on  the  Trappists 
in  Europe.  The  deliverance  of  Switzerland,  in  1804,  soon  per- 
mitted the  monks  to  return  to  Val  Sainte,  and  in  1805  Napo- 
leon granted  them  authority  to  establish  themselves  in  his  em- 
pire. Mount  Valerian,  which  rises  at  the  gates  of  Paris,  soon 
beheld  a  monastery  of  this  austere  order  arise,  and  the  disper- 
sion caused  by  the  Reign  of  Terror  seemed  repaired ;  but  when 
the  emperor  began  to  persecute  and  imprison  the  Pope,  he  could 
not  find  accomplices  in  the  fervent  disciples  of  the  Abb6  de 
Ranee. 

In  1810,  Dom  Augustine  having  made  his  monks  solemnly 
retract  the  oath  of  fidelity  taken  to  the  constitution  of  the  em- 
pire, Napoleon,  provoked  at  the  step,  ordered  all  the  houses  of 
La  Trappe  to  be  closed,  and  the  courageous  abbot  to  be  tried  by 
court-martial.  Dom  Augustine  would  have  been  shot,  but  he 
succeeded  in  escaping  to  Switzerland ;  and  thence,  traversing  Ger- 


mmmm 


-  "IT-'^nT"?^  J  "^^T^  ■,■' 


380 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


many,  pursued  by  the  imperial  police,  embarked  at  Riga  for 
England,  and  then  at  London  for  the  United  States.  There  he 
found  a  second  colony  of  Trappists  awaiting  him.  Father  Vin- 
cent of  Paul,  Superior  of  the  house  at  Bordeaux,  had  left  France 
with  two  monks  and  one  Trappist  nun,  on  the  closing  of  the  con- 
vents in  1810,  and  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  6th  of  August,  1811. 

Bishop  Cheverus  received  them  with  his  usual  goodness — 
lodged  them  in  his  house,  and  offered  them  a  generous  hospi- 
tality as  long  as  they  stayed  at  Boston.  Father  Vincent  trav- 
elled to  several  parts  to  find  a  suitable  abode,  and  choose  among 
the  lands  offered  to  him.  Pennsylvania  presented  nothing  to 
suit  him,  and  at  last,  with  others  of  the  brethren  from  Europe, 
he  installed  himself  at  Port  Tobacco,  in  Maryland,  on  a  tract 
selected  by  the  Archbishop  and  the  Sulpitians  of  Baltimore. 
The  Trappists  immediately  began  their  agricultural  labors,  which 
were  interrupted  by  disease ;  and  these  trials  obliged  them  to 
retire  to  Baltimore,  where  the  venerable  Abb6  Moranville,  pas- 
tor of  St.  Patrick's,  showed  them  the  most  generous  hospitality. 

Towards  the  close  of  1813,  Dom  Augustine  arrived  at  New 
York,  and  resolved  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the  neighborhood 
of  that  city.  He  accordingly  ordered  Father  Urban  to  leave 
Missouri,  and  join  him  at  New  York.  Father  Vincent  de  Paul 
received  the  same  instructions,  and  ere  long  all  the  American 
Trappists  were  united  in  a  single  conmiunity.  Dom  Augustine 
purchased  for  ten  thousand  dollars  a  large  piece  of  property, 
and  gave  the  house  the  form  of  an  abbey.  "  Thirty-one  poor 
children,  almost  all  orphans,  there  found  instruction  and  the 
necessaries  of  life.  A  community  of  Trappist  nuns  was  founded 
by  the  same  zeal,  and  supported  by  the  same  vigilance.  Finally, 
at  three  or  four  miles  distance,  was  an  Ursuline  convent,  which 
derived  great  advantage  from  the  arrival  of  Dom  Augustine. 
These  holy  sisters  had  no  priest  to  attend  them  ;  the  persecution 
which  drove  the  Trappists  from  the  French  empire  gave  them 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


881 


many.  Omnia  propter  eUctoa!'*  Father  Vincent  de  Paul  was 
appointed  to  go  there  every  Sunday  and  holiday  to  hear  confes- 
sions  and  say  Mass. 

The  Trappist  nuns,  who  also  had  a  temporary  establishment 
at  New  York,  were  founded  in  1786,  in  Bas  Valais,  by  Dom 
Augustine.  This  holy  abbot,  seeing  that  a  host  of  nuns  of  va- 
rious orders  haa  been  driven  from  France  for  their  fidelity  to 
their  vows,  resolved  to  gather  these  fragments  of  other  insti- 
tutes scattered  in*  a  foreign  land.  Under  the  new  name  of 
Trappist  nuns,  he  reconstituted  the  Cistercian  nuns ;  and  as 
Humbeline,  Sister  of  St.  Bernard,  had,  by  her  example,  induced 
the  convent  of  Grully  to  embrace  the  observance  of  Citeaux,  so 
Mademoiselle  Lestrange  generously  seconded  the  zeal  and  pro- 
jects of  her  brother.  The  austerities  of  the  nile,  moreover,  al- 
lured the  Princess  Louise  Adelaide  de  Cond6,  who  became  the 
Trappist  Sister  Mary  Joseph  ;  and  her  vocation  was  most 
precious  to  the  whole  order  of  La  Trappe ;  for  it  was  purely 
from  respect  for  this  grand-daughter  of  Louis  Xl^.  that  the  Czar 
permitted  the  fugitive  Trappists  to  rest  in  his  States.  In  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  this  period,  the  nuns  of  La  Trappe  felt  every 
blow  directed  against  the  monks ;  and  in  this  way  several  of  the 
Sisters  sought  refuge  at  New  York. 

Meanwhile,  the  fall  of  Napoleo';  opened  France  to  the  Trap- 
pists, at  the  same  time  that  it  delive  ed  the  Church.  Dom  Au- 
gustine availed  himself  of  the  moment  to  restore  to  his  native 
land  the  order  of  St.  Bernard,  convinced  that  his  efforts  would 
be  more  successful  in  the  Old  Word.  Leaving  Father  Vincent 
de  Paul,  with  six  brothers,  to  wind  up  their  affairs  in  New  York, 
he  embarked  for  Havre  in  October,  1814,  with  twelve  monks, 
the  Sisters,  and  pupils.     Father  Urban  Guillet  sailed  at  the 


-^ 


*  Les  TrappiBtes  oa  I'Ordre  de  Citeanx  au  XIX.  Sidole,  par  Casimir  GaiUar- 
din,  u.  886. 


r-\;v\ 


382 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


same  time  for  Bochelle,  with  fifteen  monks ;  and  in  the  follow- 
ing May  the  rest  set  sail  for  Halifax,  whence  they  proceeded  to 
France.  By  an  accident,  however,  Father  Vincent  de  Paul  was 
left  on  shore,  and  founded  La  Trappe  at  Tracadie,  in  Nova  Sco- 
tia.* During  their  stay  in  the  United  States,  the  Trappist  nuns 
had  formed  several  novices ;  but  as  these  preferred  not  to  leave 
the  country,  they  obtained  entrance  among  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
.through  the  influence  of  Rev.  Mr.  Moranvill6.f  The  monks, 
too,  had  accessions ;  among  others,  a  pastor  from  Canada,  who 
took  the  name  of  Father  Mary  Bernard,  and  who  effected  much 
good  in  the  "West  by  his  preaching.J 

Thus  did  the  long  vacancy  of  the  See  from  ISlOto  1816  de- 
feat the  establishinent  of  the  Dominicans,  Ursulines,  and  Trap- 
pists.  Doubtless,  had  a  bishop  then  watched  over  the  interests 
of  the  diocese,  religion  would  have  prospered  much  sooner,  and 
the  prelate  would  have  taken  measures  to  secure  the  communi- 
ties which  had  already  planted  their  tents  there.  Napoleon,  by 
persecuting  the  Church  and  imprisoning  the  Holy  Father,  caused 
fatal  delay  in  the  election  of  Bishop  Concanen's  successor ;  and 
if  a  single  diocese,  so  remote  from  the  centre  of  Christianity, 
had  so  much  to  suffer  from  the  emperor's  invasion  of  the  rights 
of  the  Holy  See,  we  may  conceive  their  deplorable  eflfects  on 
the  whole  Christian  world. 


♦  Louis  Henri  de  Lestrange  (Dom  Augustine)  was  born  in  Vivarais,  in 
1754,  and  on  his  nomination  as  coadjutor  to  the  Archbishop  of  Vienne,  in 
1780,  retired  to  La  Trappe,  to  become  the  saviour  of  the  order  during  tlie 
revolution,  and  founder  of  the  Trappist  nuns.  He  died  at  Lyons,  July 
16, 1827. 

t  Sister  Mary  Joseph  Llewellyn  and  Sister  Scholastica  Bean,  of  Emmets- 
burg,  had  been  Trappist  nuns.  Another,  unable  to  remain  at  Emmetsburg, 
from  ill  health,  still  survives. 

I  Louis  Antoine  Langlois  Germain,  born  at  Quebec,  November  25,  1767, 
was  ordained  in  1791,  and  successively  acted  as  Curate  of  Quebec,  Pastor 
of  Isle  aux  Coudres,  and  Chaplain,  Director  of  the  Ursulines.  In  1806,  he 
joined  the  Trappists  at  Baltimore,  and  died  on  the  28th  of  November,  1810, 
in  high  repute  for  sanctity  and  austerity. 


'f 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


883 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 


DIOCESE    OF    NEW   YORK (1816-1842). 

Bight  Bov.  John  Connolly,  second  Bishop  of  New  York— Condition  of  th«  diofiesa— 
Sketch  of  the  Bev.  P.  A.  Malou— Bisliop  Connolly's  first  acts— His  clergy— The  Bey. 
Mr  Taylor,  and  his  ambltloas  designs— Conversions— The  Bev.  John  Bioliard— Spread 
orCathollclty— Death  of  Bishop  Connolly— Very  Bev.  John  Power,  Administrator- 
Bight  Bev.  John  Dabol^  third  Bishop  of  New  York— VisiUtlon  of  his  diocese- His 
labors  for  the  cause  of  education— Controversies  with  the  Protestants— Very  Bev. 
Felix  Varela— Bev.  Thomas  C.  Levins— Difllcultles  with  trustees— German  lmmigr»* 
tion— Conversion  of  Bev.  Maximilian  (Ertel- Appointment  of  a  Coadjutor— Death 
of  Bishop  Dubois. 

The  Society  of  Jesus,  during  the  period  in  which  the  affairs  of 
New  York  had  been  committed  to  its  care,  had  labored  with  all 
the  zeal  which  is  characteristic  of  its  sons ;  and  nothing  but  the 
prolonged  absence  of  a  bishop  and  their  own  want  of  subjects 
had  prevented  their  establishing  foundations  of  permanent  good. 
A  second  bishop  had  now  been  appointed  to  the  See  of  New 
York,  and  the  Fathers  at  that  city  only  awaited  iiis  arrival  to 
return  to  Maryland,  where  their  order  greatly  needed  their  co- 
operation. 

The,  f,hoico  of  the  Holy  Father  again  fell  on  the  Order  of  St. 
Dommic,  and  he  chose  Father  John  Connolly,  then,  like  his  pred- 
ecessor. Prior  of  St.  Clement's,  to  organize  the  new  diocese  of 
New  York.  The  Right  Rev.  John  Connolly  was  bom  on  the 
banks  of  the  Boyne,  near  Navan,  in  1750,  and  was  educated  in 
Belgium.  At  an  early  age  he  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  there 
spent  most  of  his  life  in  the  convents  of  his  order.  He  was  for 
many  years  the  agent  of  the  Irish  bishops,  and  filled  various 
chairs  as  professor.    So  great  was  his  knowledge  of  divinity  and 


884 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sacred  leutiing,  that  he  was  selected  by  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of 
Albano  as  the  examiner  of  candidates  for  the  priesthood.  In  all 
these  varied  duties  he  displayed  the  greatest  ability  and  virtue, 
and  is  still  remembered  by  his  pupils — and  many  of  them  have 
been  eminent  in  the  Church — as  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary 
mildness  and  gentleness  of  character.  His  predecessor,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  made  inquiries  as  to  the  state  of  the  diocese,  and 
its  possibility  of  supporting.  Bishop  Connolly  seems  to  have 
obeyed  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and  assumed  cheerfully  the  burden 
of  the  episcopate.  Yet,  for  a  man  of  nearly  seventy,  it  was  a 
weight  far  too  heavy.  He  could,  indeed,  still  inspire  respect  by 
his  learning  and  piety,  bat  all  the  vigor  of  his  younger  days  was 
needed  for  the  arduous  task  of  bringing  into  system  and  order 
the  unorganized  elements  of  an  American  Church,  where  all, 
clergy  and  laity  alike,  seemed  in  those  days  equally  restive  of 
control.  He  was  appointed  in  the  fall  of  1814,  and  was  conse- 
crated on  the  6th  of  November  that  year.  Having  made  some 
preparations,  he  left  his  peaceful  abode  in  the  Eternal  City  in  the 
month  of  January,  1815,  and  set  out  to  take  possession  of  his 
diocese.  On  his  way,  he  visited  his  native  island,  and  bid  an 
eternal  farewell  to  all  his  kindred  ;  for  he  resolved  on  no  consid- 
eration to  have  about  or  near  him  a  single  relative.  To  secure 
the  nucleus  of  a  clergy,  he  apparently  applied  to  Kilkenny  Col- 
lege for  some  aspirants  to  holy  orders,  and  obtained  the  Rev. 
Michael  O'Gorman,  whom  he  ordained  and  brought  with  him. 
After  this,  he  set  sail  from  Dublin,  but  his  voyage  was  long  and 
dangerous,  and  only  after  being  tossed  about  for  sixty-seven  days 
did  he  reach  the  city  of  New  York,  where  all  supposed  that 
Providence  had  again  deprived  them  of  a  chief  pastor. 

The  diocese  of  which  Bishop  Connolly  took  possession,  early 
in  1816,  comprised  the  State  of  New  York  and  part  of  that  of 
New  Jersey.  Over  this  space  were  scattered  some  thirteen  thou- 
sand Catholics,  with  three  Jesuit  Fathers  and  one  secular  priest, 


IN  THE   UNITED  8TATK8. 


885 


y 

je 

id 

.ve 

len 

s  a 

by 

was 

rder 
all, 

re  of 

onse- 

Bome 

n  the 

I  hift 

^d  an 
nsid- 
cure 
Col- 
Rev, 
bim. 
g  and 
in  days 
tbat 


the  Rev.  Mr.  Carberry,  as  the  sole  representatives  of  the  clergy. 
New  York  had,  indeed,  two  churches,  Albany  another ;  but  these 
were  the  only  shrines  of  religion.  Two  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
were  soon  after  recalled,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carberry  proceeded  to 
Norfolk ;  so  that  most  of  the  missionary  labors  devolved  on  the 
good  bishop,  who  unmurmuringly  assumed  the  duties  of  a  parish 
priest. 

The  Jesuit  who  remained,  and  after  leaving  the  order,  died  at 
last  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  the  Rev.  Peter  A.  Malou,  whose 
history  is  so  varied,  that  we  cannot  forbear  giving  it  at  some 
length.  Peter  Anthony  Malou,  born  at  Ypres,  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Peter's,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1763,  was  always  firmly  at- 
tached to  the  faith  ;  but  at  first  experienced  no  vocation  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state,  and  on  the  2d  of  June,  7  /  77,  married,  at  Brus- 
sels, Mademoiselle  Marie  Louise  Riga.  By  this  marriage  he  had 
two  sons,  the  elder  of  whom,  John  Baptist  Malou,  is  now  senator 
of  the  kingdom  of  Belgium.  The  latter  had  six  children,  one  of 
whom  has  been  Minister  of  the  Finances,  and  another  is  Mon- 
seigneur  John  Baptist  Malou,  Bishop  of  Bruges,  universally  known 
by  his  solid  and  learned  works.  It  is  well  known  that  in  1786  the 
Belgians,  driven  to  extremity  by  the  religious  innovations  of  the 
emperor,  Joseph  II.,  rose  against  their  oppressor,  and  after  many 
years  of  parliamentary  struggle  and  bloody  combats,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  expelling  the  Austrian  troops  from  the  country.  On 
the  26th  of  December,  1789,  the  States  of  Brabant  solemnly 
declared  their  independence  ;  and  Catholic  Belgium  would  have 
been  constituted  at  that  period,  forty  years  prior  to  the  revolu- 
tion of  1830,  had  not  France  treacherously  invaded  the  country 
in  1792,  under  the  pretext  of  protecting  it  against  the  attacks  of 
the  emperor.  In  this  heroic  resistance,  inspired  by  the  purest 
attachment  to  the  faith,  the  pupils  of  the  theological  seminary  at 
Louvain  gave  the  example  to  the  people,  and  rose  on  the  7th  of 
December,  1786,  because  the  emperor  wished  to  force  upon  them 

17 


386 


THE    CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


professors  imbued  with  Josephine  principles,  and  the  theological 
works  of  Dr.  Eiybal,  which  had  been  condemned  at  Rome. 
When  Peter  Malou  saw  the  emperor  closing  the  seminaries,  dis- 
persing religious,  seizing  the  property  of  the  Church,,  everywhere 
fomenting  a  spirit  of  revolt  against  the  Holy  See,  and  forbidding 
all  communication  between  the  clergy  and  Rome  ;*  when  he  saw 
that  Joseph  II.  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of 
Catholicity  in  his  States,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  move- 
ment with  an  ardent  patriotism,  and  played  a  very  important 
part  in  negotiation  and  on  the  field  of  battle.  He  was  repeatedly 
intrusted  with  the  most  delicate  missions  by  the  States  of"  Flaa- 
ders,  which  then  governed  the  country ;  and  maintained  a  very 
active  correspondence  with  the  chiefs  of  the  movement  in  the 
other  provinces.  Having  become  general,  he  traversed  West 
Flanders  to  enrol  volunteers,  and  organized  an  army  :  he  equip- 
ped several  companies  at  his  own  expense,  and  gave  his  estate 
and  his  person  in  defence  of  the  cause  of  his  country  and 
Church. 

When  the  National  Convention  of  France  menaced  Belgium 
with  a  republican  invasion.  General  Peter  Malou  was  sent  to 
Paris  by  the  States  of  Flanders,  and  boldly  appeared  before  that 
terrible  assembly.  He  solicited  at  least  delay,  for  it  would  have 
been  useless  to  ask  more ;  and  he  besought  the  French  govern- 
ment to  defer  the  violent  measures  which  had  been  decreed. 
This  dangerous  appeal  was  made  on  the  2'7th  of  January,  1793, 
BIT  days  after  the  infamous  execution  of  Louis  XVI. ;  and  so 


*  Coxe's  House  of  Austria,  v.  862.  This  author,  a  Protestant  clergyman, 
attests  the  good  government  of  the  Belgian  provinces,  and  blames  Joseph 
II.  for  seeking  to  destroy  their  religious  institutions.  "  In  spite  of  the 
power  and  immunities  of  the  clergy,  no  country  in  Europe  possessed  a 
denser  population,  more  opulent  cities,  or  more  widely  diffused  happiness. 
These  are  incontestabln  proo'fs  that  the  government  was  not,  in  general, 
badly  administered,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  adapted  to  the  geniua 
and  niHnners  of  the  people." 


•  ' 11  ■win 


r-: 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


387 


plainly  did  he  show  the  injustice  of  the  Convention,  that  the 
Moniteur  gave  only  a  mutilated  version  of  his  speech.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  full  in  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Assembly  of  West  Flanders,  as  the  historian  Borgnet  notes.* 
The  correspondence  of  Mr.  Malou  attests  that  the  President  of  the 
Convention,  who  had  treated  the  other  speakers  with  revolution- 
ary coarseness,  showed  him  much  courtesy,  and  even  kindness. 
His  generous  efforts  were,  however,  fruitless.  The  Convention 
had  resolved  to  invade  Belgium,  in  order  to  find  in  its  plun- 
der means  of  continuing  war ;  and  no  arguments  could  prevail 
against  such  a  decision.  In  consequence  of  these  discussions, 
Mr.  Peter  Malou  was  brought  into  contact  with  the  most  cele- 
brated men  in  Europe.  He  was  in  active  correspondence  with 
Genera!  Dumouriez,  with  Merlin  of  Douai,  and  other  renowned 
conventionists.  In  a  letter  of  Merlin's  to  the  deputies  of  West 
Flanders,  we  find  this  familiar  expression — "Your  famous  Malou" — 
which  attests  and  depicts  the  position  which  the  future  Jesuit  had 
assumed  among  his  fellow-citizens. 

Mr.  Malou  had  opposed  with  all  his  energy  the  French  inva- 
sion. On  the  approach  of  the  armies,  he  had  to  become  an  exile, 
and  retired  to  Hamburg,  whence  he  wrote  an  apology  of  his 
conduct,  in  reply  to  the  unjust  accusations  which  always  pursue 
misfortune.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  month  of 
July,  1*795,  intending  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  emigration  of 
his  family.  But  during  this  voyage  he  had  the  affliction  of  losing 
his  wife,  who  died  at  Hamburg  on  the  18th  of  December,  1*797, 
and  he  returned  to  Europe  in  1*799.     The  destruction  of  his  hap- 


*  Histoire  des  Beiges  au  fin  du  XVIII.  Siecle,  par  Mr.  Borgnet.  Brus- 
sels, 1844,  ii.  141.  This  author  speaks  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  political 
conduct  of  General  Malou.  Feller,  in  his  '•  Journal  Historique  et  Litternire" 
of  August  1,  1790,  published  an  address  of  Mr.  Malou  to  the  patriot  volun- 
teers. The  proceedings  already  cited  contain  several  of  the  speeches, 
proclamations,  and  a  part  of  the  correspondence  of  this  brave  defender  of 
his  countrv. 


rf 


m  I        I     ^.^!Kmmfmmmmmmmmmmmmmllll|K|KKt(^ 


[: 


388 


\  1 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


piness  gave  another  turn  to  his  thoughts,  and  in  1801  he  re- 
solved to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state.  In  October  he  entered 
the  Seminary  of  Wolsau,  in  Franconia,  where  he  received  minor 
orders.  Then,  in  1805,  he  presented  himself,  under  an  assumed 
name,  at  the  novitiate  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  at  Dunaburg,  in 
White  Russia,  and  humbly  asked  admission  as  a  lay  brother. 
Zealously  employed  in  the  lowly  task  of  gardening,  Brother 
Malou  was  recognized  by  a  visitor,  who  informed  the  Superior  of 
his  real  name  ;  and  the  ex-general  was  obliged  to  take  upon  him 
more  important  functions.  He  was  the  model  of  the  community 
in  fervor,  humility,  and  perfect  obedience.  In  1811,  he  was  sent 
as  a  missionary  to  America,  and  arrived  with  Father  Maximilian 
de  Rantzau.  Attached  at  first  to  the  New  York  Literary  Insti- 
tution, he  was  afterwards  one  of  the  priests  at  St.  Peter's,  and 
died  in  New  York  on  the  13th  of  October,  1827,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-four.  His  last  days  were  embittered  by  the  ingratitude 
of  the  trustees  :  feeble  in  health,  and  suffering  from  lameness,  he 
was  an  object  rather  of  their  reverent  care ;  but  in  order  to  com- 
pel him  to  leave,  they  applied  to  the  Superior  of  his  order  at 
Georgetown,  who,  however,  declined  to  act  on  their  request,  re- 
ferring them  to  the  bishop.  Dr.  Connolly  at  last  yielded  to  their 
importunity,  and  requested  his  recall.  Deeply  grieved  at  this, 
to  him,  apparently  unkind  treatment,  the  aged  priest  asked  to 
withdraw  from  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  remained  in  New  York, 
awaiting  means  from  Europe  for  his  support.*  In  1825,  the  Su- 
periors invited  him  to  return ;  but,  from  motives  which  satisfied 
the  general  of  the  order,  he  preferred  to  remain  a  secular  priest. 
He  was  an  exemplary  missionary,  loving  poverty*  and  the  poor, 
and  devoting  himself  to  the  service  of  the  sick,  to  whom  he  gave 


*  For  these  facts  we  are  indebted  to  extracts  of  letters  furnished  by  the 
kindness  of  the  Abbd  J.  B.  Ferland,  of  Quebec,  whose  historical  labors  en- 
able him  to  throw  great  light  on  our  Church  history,  and  whose  courtesy 
4nd  kindness  to  fellow-laborers  nrc  beyond  expression. 


7/ 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


889 


all  that  he  had.  Political  troubles  had  -wasted  the  great  fortune 
which  he  had  possessed  in  Belgium.  His  brother-in-law,  Canon 
Riga,  who  had  saved  the  wreck,  sent  him  a  trifling  pension,  in 
which  the  wretched  always  had  a  share.  He  also  took  a  great 
interest  in  the  schools,  which  he  often  visited,  questioning  the 
pupils,  to  observe  their  progress  ;  and  the  pupils  long  preserved 
their  veneration  for  Father  Malou,  and  told  their  children,  in  turn, 
how,  when  they  were  good,  he  would  show  them  his  snufF-box, 
on  which  was  painted  the  miniature  portrait  of  one  of  his  chil- 
dren. The  scholars  were  greatly  astonished  that  the  Jesuit 
Father  had  been  married ;  but  he  offered  God  in  sacrifice  the 
pain  of  being  separated  from  his  children.  He  left  them  as  a 
heritage  a  venerated  name,  and  the  example  of  his  ecclesiastical 
virtues ;  and  vOatholic  Europe  knows  how  well  the  illustrious 
Bishop  of  Bruges  has  followed  in  his  steps.* 

Such  was  almost  the  only  priest  whom  the  bishop  had  to  rep- 
resent the  body  of  his  clergy;  but  he  zealously  assumed  the 
charge  of  his  immense  diocese,  and  endeavored  to  provide  for  its 
wants.  Remaining  himself  at  New  York,  he  dispatched  the 
Rev.  Mr.  O'Gorman  to  Albany  and  the  northern  parts  of  the 
State,  extending  his  visits  to  Carthage,  where  a  church  was  soon 
erected  amid  a  Catholic  population,  and  saying  Mass  in  many 
parts  for  scattered  Catholics  who  had  not  seen  a  priest  for  years, 
and  whose  children  looked  on  the  service  of  the  Church  with 
amazement. 

On  investigating  the  state  of  his  diocese,  the  good  bishop  soon 
saw  a  work  of  difficulty  before  him.  In  the  churches  that  ex- 
isted, he  found  every  thing  in  the  hands  of  trustees,  who  seemed 
to  have  very  little  idea  of  the  constitution  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  or  disposition  to  submit  to  it.     That  a  bishop  should  ap- 


*  We  have  been  so  happy  as  to  receive  from  Bishop  Malou  many  details 
as  to  the  political  life  of  his  eminent  grandfather. 


t 


I     ! 


390 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


point  a  pastor  to  a  church,  seemed  to  them  ridiculous ;  on  the 
Protestant  principle,  they  themselves  looked  out  for  a  good 
preacher,  or  what  they  considered  such,  and  invited  him.  Bishop 
Connolly  was  immediately  called  upon  by  the  trustees  to  be  the 
channel  of  these  invitations.  Those  of  Albany  wished  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Corr,  of  Mary's  Lane  Chapel,  and  offered  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars a  year  ;  two  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  in  New  York,  desired  to 
have  as  their  pastor  Father  William  V.  Harold,  then  at  St. 
Thomas's  College,  near  Dublin,  offering  to  pay  his  passage  and 
settle  his  salary  when  he  came.  Other  trustees  wished  him 
to  write  to  Ireland  for  Rev.  Messrs.  England  and  Taylor,  of 
Cloyne. 

We  find  these  scanty  notes  in  his  diary,*  but  we  do  not  know 
to  what  extent  he  acceded  to  their  wishes.  The  last  named  of 
these  clergymen  we  shall  soon  find  at  New  York,  and  giving  to 
the  encroachments  of  the  trustees  all  the  influence  he  possessed. 

The  good  bishop  sought  and  obtained  clergymen  with  whose 
abilities  and  principles  he  was  acquainted,  and  gathered  several 
young  aspirants  to  holy  orders,  who,  under  his  training,  became 
zealous  and  devoted  priests.  In  1817  and  1818  we  find  the  Rev. 
Arthur  Langdill  and  the  celebrated  Father  Charles  D.  Ffrench 
in  the  active  discharge  of  the  ministry  in  his  diocese,  the  former 
at  Newburg,  and  generally  on  the  North  River,  except  at  New 
York  and  Albany ;  the  latter  at  New  York.  Father  Ffrench  was 
a  convert,  and  the  grandson  of  one  who  obtained  titles  and 
honors  from  the  English  government  in  1798.  But  while  the 
head  of  the  family  thus  assumed  the  badge  of  servitude  and 
treachery,  several  members  of  it  embraced  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  devoted  themselves  to  the  service  of  their  Catholic  coun- 
trymen at  home  and  abroad.  Among  those  was  Father  Charles 
D.  Ffrench,  who,  after  entering  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic  in 


*  See  Bishop  Bayley's  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

* 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


391 


Ireland,  came  to  America,  and  attempted  to  establish  a  house 
of  his  order  at  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  then  subject  to  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec.  He  came  in  the  winter  of  1817  to  New 
York,  where  he  had  relatives  among  the  most  influential  Catho- 
lics, and  was  soon  made  one  of  the  pastors  of  St  Peter's ;  but 
the  trustee  troubles  which  ensued  induced  him  to  leave,  and  he 
then  for  many  years  labored  in  the  missions  of  Maine  and  other 
parts  of  New  England,  and  at  last  died  at  Lawrence,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, in  January,  1861,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five 
years,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  priesthood.* 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  invited  by  the  trustees,  came  apparently 
in  1818,  and  soon  gave  the  trustee  encroachments  in  a  new  form. 
He  was  a  popular  preacher,  and  deeming  the  bishop  a  good  but 
incapable  man,  aspired  to  the  See  himself,  and  actually  formed  a 
party,  into  which  he  even  drew  some  of  the  clergy,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  have  Bislfop  Connolly  recalled  and  himself  chosen. 
He  actually  went  to  Rome  to  effect  this,  but  failed ;  and  as  the 
bishop  refused  to  receive  him,  he  proceeded  to  Boston,  where  he 
gained  the  esteem  of  Bishop  Cheverus,  and  following  him  to 
France,  died  while  preaching  at  the  Irish  College  in  Paris,  in 
1828.t 

During  his  short  stay  in  New  York  he  mingled  much  in  Pro- 
testant society,  and  sought  to  remove  all  prejudice  from  their 
minds.  To  what  extent  he  carried  his  concession  may  be  seen 
by  a  prayer-book — "  The  Christian's  Monitor  ;  or,  Practical 
Guide  to  Future  Happiness" — which  he  compiled  and  published. 
This  book  is  remarkable  for  its  apologetic  notes,  and  still  more 
so  for  some  of  the  headings,  the  strangest  being  that  which 
reads,  "  The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  together  with  the 
Holy  Communion,  commonly  called  the  Mass !" 


*  Catholic  Almanac,  1852,  p.  248. 

t  See  his  observations  on  Bishop  Hobart's  charge,  entitled  "  Corruptions 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,"  cited  by  Dr.  White  in  his  Life  of  Mrs.  Seton. 


892 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Hopes  of  extensive  conversions  were  probably  entertained,  and 
were  not  unreasonable,  as  the  conversions  of  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Thayer,  Holmes,  and  Barber,  in  New  England,  had  been  followed 
in  New  York  by  that  of  the  younger  Barber,  Rev.  Mr.  Richards, 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kewley,  rector  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  St.  George,  and  subsequently  of  the  Rev. 
George  Edmund  Ironside,  the  last  named  of  whom,  in  reply  to 
the  assaults  made  upon  him,  openly  defended  the  step  he  had 
taken.  Bishop  Hobart  himself,  the  Episcopalian  Bishop  of 
New  York,  repeatedly,  expressed  a  wish  to  end  his  days  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  from  the  friendship 
which  subsisted  between  him  and  Bishop  Connolly,  hopes  were 
entertained  that  his  visit  to  Rome,  with  letters  of  introduction 
from  Dr.  Connolly,  would  lead  to  his  conversion.  This  grace, 
however,  in  the  designs  of  Providence,  was  reserved  for  his 
daughter,  the  god-child  of  Mother  Seton,  and  wife  of  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Levi  S.  Ives,  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  who  has  so  lately 
sacrificed  all  to  become  an  humble  member  of  the  flock  of  Peter. 

Of  'the  earlier  converts,  Mr.  Kewley  returned  to  his  native 
country,*  and  is  said  to  have  become  a  religious  in  Belgium. 
Mr.  John  Richards  was  in  1807  a  Methodist  clergyman,  zealously 
preaching  in  various  parts  of  Western  New  York.  In  order  to 
extend  his  sect  he  crossed  to  Upper  Canada,  and  finally,  in  Au- 
gust, 180*7,  reached  Montreal.  Here,  in  his  zeal,  he  wished  to 
convert  the  Sulpitians  of  that  city,  and  waited  upon  them  for 
that  purpose.  They  received  him  with  the  utmost  courtesy,  and 
gave  him  books  explaining  the  Catholic  doctrines.  He  read 
them  attentively,  and  returned,  not  to  convert,  but  to  be  in- 
structed. For  several  months  he  was  closely  engaged  in  examin- 
ing the  grounds  of  the  Catholic  faith.  "As  I  progress,"  he 
writes  in  his  diary,  "  the  truth  seems  to  me  more  clear,  so  that  I 


*  Stone,  Life  of  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor,  p.  212. 


'■'i;','.J4>ll>i»OTIW 


■"■'/r 


m  THE  UN1T£D  STATES. 


898 


jd,  and 
Messrs. 
)llowed 
chards, 
of  the 
le  Rev. 
eply  to 
he  had 
ihop   of 
in  the 
endship 
)es  were 
)duction 
8  grace, 
for  his 
the  Rt. 
\o  lately 
of  Peter, 
native 
ielgiiim. 
;ealously 
lorder  to 
',  in  Au- 
ished  to 
[hem  for 
;esy,  and 
^e  read 
be  in- 
examin- 
•ess,"  he 
;o  that  I 


am  fully  convinced  no  doctrine  has  been  more  misrepresented,  as 
far  as  I  can  understand  it.  I  see  nothing  but  what  has  the  sanc- 
tion of  God's  word."  Called  upon  by  the  Methodist  Society  to 
explain  his  visits  to  the  Catholic  clergy,  he  declined  till  he  had 
finally  made  up  his  mind.  He  then  announced  his  determina- 
tion in  a  letter  of  remarkable  candor  and  earnestness. 

This  step  excited  the  greatest  consternation  among  the  Meth- 
odists, and  as  Mr.  Richards  had  abstained  from  any  public  expo- 
sition of  the  causes  of  his  conversion,  it  was  not  easy  to  refute 
the  arguments  which  had  influenced  him.  One  Methodist  cler- 
gyman, however,  undertook  to  counteract  the  evil  dond*,  and  in  a 
curious  little  book,  begins  by  supposing  the  grounds  on  which 
Mr.  Richards  acted,  and  then,  quite  to  his  own  satisfaction,  shows 
them  to  be  fallacious.* 

Of  all  this  Mr.  Richards  took  no  notice.  He  entered  the  sem- 
inary, and  after  a  thorough  course  of  study,  was  ordained,  and 
for  many  yeara  edified  Canada  by  his  zeal  and  devotedness. 
Candid  and  upright  in  life,  in  death  he  was  a  martyr  of  charity. 
The  number  of  Catholics  who  were  thus  gained  by  conversion 
was,  however,  small ;  but  the  Catholic  population  was  now  rap- 
idly increasing;  emigration  had  become  a  tide,  and  in  three 
years  ten  thousand  Irish  Catholics  landed  at  New  York,  actually 
doubling  the  number  of  the  faithful.  For  these,  churches, 
schools,  every  thing  were  to  be  provided. 

We  have  seen  how  hopefully  Catholicity  had  begun  in  New 
York,  with  its  Ursuline  convent,  its  Jesuit  college,  its  Trappist 


*  An  inquiry  into  the  fundamental  principles  of  Soman  Catholics,  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  John  Eicharda ;  by  Samuel  Coate.  Brooklyn,  1809.  Mr.  Rich- 
ards' journal  at  the  time  of  his  conversion  is  still  extant,  and  we  are  indebted 
for  a  copy  of  it  to  the  Sulpitians  of  Montreal.  Mr.  Richards  was  ordained  on 
the  25th  of  July,  1818,  and  died  at  Montreal  on  the  28d  of  July,  1847,  of  the 
typhus,  caught  while  attending  the  emigrants.  Martin ;  Manuel  du  Pelerin 
de  N.  D.  de  Bon  Secours.  He  is  mentioned  with  singular  praise  and  mod- 
eration in  Bangs'  History  of  the  Methoplist  Episcopal  Church,  i. 

17* 


\\ 


t 


)l 


394 


THB  OATHOLIO  CHURCH 


monastery.  All  these,  however,  had  disappeared,  aud  Bishop 
Connolly  was  unable  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Without  reve- 
nues, relying  entirely  on  the  bodies  of  trustees  and  their  caprice, 
with  a  cathedral  loaded  with  debt,  he  did  not  even  venture  to 
think  of  erecting  a  seminary,  and  had  no  schools  in  which  to 
imbue  Catholic  youth  with  Catholic  sentiments,  or  counteract 
the  "  almost  invincible  repugnance  of  the  American  youth  to  the 
ecclesiastical  state." 

In  ISIT  he  applied,  however,  to  his  future  successor,  the  Rev. 
John  Dubois,  then  director  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  for  Sisters 
to  direct  the  orphan"  asylum  at  the  cathedral.  Mrs.  Seton  could 
not  resist  the  appeal  from  her  native  city,  and  chose  Sister  Rose 
White,  Cecilia  O'Conway,  and  Felicitaa  Brady,  who  arrived  in 
New  York  on  the  20th  of  June,  1817,  and  "commenced  in  an 
humble  way  an  institution  destined  to  become  a  most  flourishing 
asylum,  and  what  is  more,  founded,  by  the  introduction  of  their 
order,  those  many  establishments  of  charity,  mercy,  and  educa- 
tion which  cover  the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  which  alone 
the  rule  and  dress  of  Mother  Seton  are  preserved  unaltered. 

"  A  small  wooden  building  on  Prince-street  sufficed  then  to 
hold  the  Sisters  and  the  five  orphans  first  committed  to  their 
care ;  but  the  number  rapidly  increased,  and  schools  under  their 
direction  multiplied  in  various  parts."* 

The  Erie  Canal,  which  was  begun  in  1819,  drew  the  Irish 
emigrants  to  that  part  of  the  State,  and  first  gave  the  Catholics 
numerical  importance  in  Central  New  York.  Three  years  later, 
Bishop  Connolly  made  a  visitation  of  his  diocese,  which  was  pro- 
ductive of  great  consolation  to  himself  and  good  to  his  widely 
scattered  flock.  At  Albany  he  received  into  the  Church  Mr. 
Keating  Lawson  and  Miss  Eldredge,  both  of  Lansingburg ;  and 
proceeding  westward,  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  Dominic  Lynch, 


*  White's  Life  of  Mrs,  Soton,  p.  389. 


ssam 


//• 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


895 


Esq.,  at  Rome,  and  John  C.  Devereux,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  in  both  of 
whom  the  Church  found  zealous  and  able  suppoiiers.* 

Bishop  Connolly  was  not  insensible  to  the  progress  of  Catho* 
licity  in  other  parts  of  the  Union,  but  actively  co-operated  with 
his  brother  prelates,  and  essentially  contributed  to  the  erection 
of  new  Sees.  Under  his  administration  the  good  bishop  had 
seen  several  churches  arise — St.  John's  at  Utica,  St.  Patrick's  in 
Rochester.  In  1822  he  could  number  eight  priests  on  the  mis- 
sion, three  of  them  ordained  by  himself.  One  of  these,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Bulger,  an  unwearied  missionary,  then  served,  as  his  parish, 
the  present  diocese  of  Newark ;  the  parishes  of  the  Rev.  Michael 
Carroll  and  the  Rev.  John  Farnan  comprised  the  diocese  of  Al- 
bany, and  that  of  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  that  of  Buffalo ;  while 
not  a  single  clergyman  was  stationed  in  what  is  now  the  diocese 
of  Brooklyn,  where  in  1823  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shanahan  said  his  first 
Mass  and  began  to  gather  a  congregation. 

Every  priest  at  this  time  had  his  appointed  catechism  classes 
before  divine  service  on  Sundays,  and  had  rosary  societies,  not 
only  in  each  church,  but  in  most  of  the  stations  attached  to  them. 
Their  duties,  especially  out  of  the  city,  were  very  laborious,  and 
subjected  them  to  many  hardships,  of  which  they  have  left  us  no 
record.  # 

The  bishop  subsequently  ordained  three  other  clergymen,  two 
of  whom  still  survive  in  the  active  discharge  of  their  duties.f 
The  Rev.  Mr.  O'Gorman  was  fey  some  years  with  the  bishop  at 
the  cathedral,  but  in  the  month  of  November,  1824,  he  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Bulger,  like  himself  a  native  of  Kilkenny,  and  ordained 
by  Bishop  Connolly,  expired  within  a  week  of  each  other,  and 
(he  good  bishop,  worn  out  with  toil  and  trouble,  soon  followed 
them  to  the  tomb.     He  was  taken  sick  on  his  return  from  Mr. 


*  For  many  of  these  details,  and  much  valuable  information  as  to  this  pe- 
riod, we  are  indebted  to  the  venerable  Rev.  John  Shanahan. 
t  Rev.  John  Shanahan  and  Rev.  Mr.  Conroy. 


MB 


396 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


■. 


t 


i  \\ 


0*Gorman*8  funeral,  but  struggled  through  the  winter,  discharge 
ing  without  complaint  the  additional  duty  devolved  upon  him, 
and  actually  officiating  within  a  week  of  his  death.  Attended 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shanahan,  he  expired  at  his  residence  on  Sexa- 
gesima'  Sunday  evening,  February  6th,  1825. 

His  funeral  was  attended  by  thousands,  and  all  sympathized 
with  the  devoted  Catholics,  who  regretted  the  loss  of  "the  pious, 
worthy,  and  venerable  Bishop  Connolly." 

The  Rev.  John  Power,  who  now  became  administrator  of  the 
diocese,  was  bom  near.Roscarberry,  in  Ireland,  of  a  very  respect- 
able family,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1*792.  After  a  distinguished 
course  of  study  at  Maynooth,  he  was  ordained,  and  for  a  timo 
taught  divinity  in  the  Diocesan  Seminary  at  Cork.  Invited  by 
the  trustees  of  St.  Peter's,  he  came  to  New  York  in  1819.  He 
was  an  able  theologian,  a  most  eloquent  preacher,  and  a  faithful 
priest.  His  zeal  and  charity  are  still  proverbial,  and  the  yellow 
fever,  which  ravaged  New  York  at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  afford- 
ed him  ample  exercise  for  his  devotedness.  He  administered  the 
diocese  for  two  years  with  great  ability,  the  death  of  two  priests 
and  the  suspension  of  two  others  greatly  increasing  the  difficulty 
of  his  position.* 

Under  the  next  Bishop  of  New  York  h«  became  vicar-general, 
and  continued  in  that  important  post  till  his  death.  Possessing 
great  eloquence,  his  appeals,  especially  those  on  behalf  of  the 
orphans,  always  obtained  a  mo«t  plentiful  collection  from  the 
charity  of  the  faithful.  As  a  controversialist  he  possessed  great 
skill  and  power,  free  from  all  acrimony  and  bitterness,  and  his 
writings,*  doctrinal  and  controversial,  effected  at  the  time  no  un- 
important good.  St.  Peter's  Church  was  the  only  field  of  his 
ministry  from  his  arrival  in  New  York  to  his  death,  and  under 
his  care  the  present  noble  pile  was  reared. 


*  Bishop  Beyley'B  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


,'/ 


^    IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


897 


While  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  administered  the  diocese  of 
New  York,  the  Church  gradually  extended.  The  Catholics  in 
the  city  had  become  too  numerous,  and  many  too  far  removed 
from  the  cathedral  and  St.  Peter*8,  to  be  able  to  attend  them  or 
find  accommodations  there.  A  church  in  Sheriflf-street,  belong- 
ing to  the  Presbyterians,  was  accordingly  purchased  in  1836, 
and  opened  for  divine  worship  on  the  14th  of  May  in  that  year. 
In  the  opening  discourse  pronounced  by  the  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Hatton  Walsh,  he  says  :  "  At  no  distant  period  a  single  church 
had  been  amply  suflScient  to  contain  the  Catholics  of  that  vast 
•commercial  city ;  and  when  it  had  been  deemed  expedient  to 
erect  a  sumptuous  cathedral  in  honor  of  the  Most  High,  it  was 
more  than  the  warmest  fri  nds  of  Catholicity  could  then  expect 
that  its  spacious  aisles  should  be  filled  with  the  followers  of  the 
ancient  faith ;  but  so  diligently  had  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord 
been  cultivated,  and  so  fruitfully  had  it  flourished,  that  in  order 
to  afford  an  opportunity  to  every  one  of  assisting  at  the  sacred 
mysteries  of  our  religion,  it  had  been  considered  necessary  to 
procure  for  their  accommodation  this  additional  temple."* 

Meanwhile  the  Holy  See  had,  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
American  prelates,  raised  to  the  vacant  See  the  Rev.  John  Du- 
bois, founder  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  at  Emmetsburg,  whose 
labors  in  Virginia  and  Maryland  have  been  mentioned  elsewhere. 
Bom  at  Paris  on  the  20th  of  August,  1764,  he  had  received  a 
careful  education  at  the  college  of  Louis  le  Grand,  at  the  time 
that  the  Abb6  Proyart  was  the  director,  and  when  it  numbered 
among  its  pupils  M'Carthy,  afterwards  a  celebrated  preacher  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus ;  Legris  Duval  and  Leonard,  both  eminent 
clergymen,  and  also  (men  whom  France  will  ever  remember  with 
horror)  Robespierre  and  Camille  Desmoulins.    After  reading  di- 


*  A  discourse  delivered  at  the  opening  of  St.  Mary's  Cburoh,  by  the  Rev. 
Hatton  Walsh.    New  York,  1826 ;  p.  7. 


w 


898 


THE  OATHOUO  OHUBOH 


vinity  with  the  Oratorians,  he  was  ordained  about  1789,  and  sta- 
tioned at  St.  Sulpice.  Having  in  a  moment  of  weakness  taken 
the  constitutional  oath,  he  soon  saw  the  danger,  and  resolving  to 
leave  France,  sailed  for  America  with  letters  of  introduction  from 
Lafayette,  and  after  arriving  safely  at  Norfolk  in  1701,  became 
an  inmate  of  the  family  of  the  Hon.  James  Monroe,  afterwards 
President  of  the  United  States,  whose  relative  and  namesake  is 
now  a  member  of  the  true  fold. 

On  hie  appointment  to  the  See  of  New  York,  Dr.  Duboif^  i.ie- 
pared,  notwithstanding  his  advanced  age,  to  assume  lie  uuuus 
which  devolved  upon  him,  and  having  received  his  cross  and 
ring  from  the  kindness  of  the  venerable  Ch  -rles  C  rroll  of  Car- 
roUton,  was  consecrated  at  Baltimore  on  Sunday,  1  uo  29th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1 826,  by  Archbishop  Mar6chal,  amid  a  crowd  of  his  old 
pupils,  who  wished  to  give  this  last  mark  of  attachment  to  their 
old  director,  and  three  days  later  took  possession  of  his  See.* 
On  his  arrival  at  New  York  his  cathedral  was  crowded,  no  less 
than  four  thousand  of  the  faithful  pressing  around  its  altar 
to  receive  the  blessing  of  the  new  pastor.f  Murmurs  however, 
were  heard ;  Lhe  Catholics  of  New  York  were  chiefly  of  Irish 
origin,  and  in  their  eyes  the  new  bishop  was  a  foreigner ;  nor 
did  they  conceal  their  dissatisfaction.  Firm  and  decided  in  his 
opinions  and  conduct.  Bishop  Dubois  was  not  disposed  to  flatter 
or  soothe.  "  He  is  going  to  govern  strongly  in  his  strong  way," 
wrote  his  holy  friend.  Dr.  Bmt6,  the  future  Bishop  of  Vin- 
cennes ;  and  the  bishop  soon  issued  a  pastoral,  in  which,  claiming 
the  rights  of  an  American  citizen,  both  by  his  naturalization 
and  services,  he  denied  any  grouii<i  v>  object  to  his  nationality, 
and  commenting  severely  on     I  a.- ,f«  >   loh  prevailed,  he  avowed 


*  Bishop  Bayley's  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  pp.  80-86.  An- 
nales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  251. 

t  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  447.  Bishdp  Bayley's  Brief 
flkBtoh,  p.  9*. 


IN  THE   UNITED  8TATKS. 


399 


his  determination  to  bring  the  discipline  of  the  diocese  to  the 
standard  of  the  sacred  canons. 

fsew  York  citj  then  contained,  according  to  liis  calculation, 
thirty-five  thvjusand  Catholics,  and  the  diocese  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand,  with  eight  churches  and  eighteen  priests.  To 
realize  the  actual  position  oi  affairs  the  aged  prelate  hejjan  a 
visitation  of  his  vast  diocese,  encouraging  tho  Catho  hearing 
confessions,  and  admiuistenug  the  sacraments.  Albau\  i<>^ded 
encouragement  in  building  a  new  church,  and  tho  presence  th« 
bishop  gave  it.  At  Butfalo  he  said  Mass  in  the  Oour  house,  re- 
ceived a  grant  of  land  for  the  erection  of  the  since  famot  church 
of  St.  Louis,  and  blessed  it  ainid  the  general  adnv  ation  '^atho- 
lics  of  Ireland,  France,  German v,  and  Switzerlan<i  harmouiousl) 
joining  in  the  ceremony.  Before  returning  to  his  episcopa'  *y, 
Bishop  Dubois  also  visited  the  Ii  dian  village  of  St.  Regis,  h 

lay  partly  in  his  diocese,  and  wi.ere  the  American  part  u 

open  opposition  to  its  pastor,  whc   dwelt  on  the  Canadian  -   le. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  he  administeret    the  sacrament  of  conlii 
tion,  but  was  not  called  upon  to  baptize  or  confess.,  the  Indw    „ 
being,  for  all  their  foolish  obstinacy,  more  blessed  than  tli<  r 
white  brethren  in  the  possession  of  a  'hurch  and  regular  pastor. 

The  wants  of  his  diocese  were  noN\  before  the  bishop,  and  he 
saw  the  pressing  necessity  of  a  seminary  and  college,  of  schools 
for  boys,  of  a  hospital,  especially  for  em  grants,  and  of  asylums  to 
save  the  orphans,  as  well  as  of  churches  at  almost  every  point  to 
enable  the  scattered  Catholics  to  worship  'xod.  How  much  would 
he  have  realized,  had  he  been  seconded  I  the  flock  committed  to 
his  care  !  But  unfortunately  the  die  hai.  been  cast ;  the  trustee 
interest  was  arrayed  against  him,  and  his  projects  were  either 
traversed  or  disregarded.  Still,  he  never  forsook  them,  and  to  the 
last  labored  to  supply  the  deficiencies  under  which  the  diocese 
labored. 

Without  awaiting  the  project^  Council  at  Baltimore,  he  re- 


Vir  ■■' 


400 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


solved  to  proceed  to  Europe  in  search  of  aid,  and  befoi  j  departing, 
received  from  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith 
a  considerable  allowance — a  favor  which  his  friend  Dr.  Brut6 
had  obtained  him.  With  this  he  aided  the  Catholics  of  Albany 
in  erecting  their  church,  and  redeemed  that  of  Newark,  just 
about  to  be  sacrificed.  Thus  relieved  on  two  points,  he  next,  in 
1837,  purchased  Christ  Church,  in  Ann-street,  from  the  Episco- 
palians, and  stationed  in  Brooklyn  the  Rev.  John  Walsh,  who 
thus  became  the  first  resident  pastor  in  that  city,  now  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  Union,  and  itself  an  episcopal  See. 

Bishop  Dubois  reached  France  in  October,  1829,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome  to  confide  his  pains,  his  trials,  and  the  number- 
less obstacles  which  Jjj^e  met,  to  the  father  of  the  faithful  and  the 
venerable  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda.  On  terminating 
the  affairs  which  had  called  him  to  the  Holy  City,  and  having 
procured  such  aid  as  he  was  able,  he  returned  to  New  York,  and 
began  his  endeavors  to  rear  the  establishments  of  which  he  saw 
the  greatest  need. 

A  house  of  education  for  youth  and  seminary  combined  was 
his  project.  An  Irish  Brotherhood,  under  Brother  Boylen,  had 
proposed  schools  in  the  city,  but  the  trustees  would  not  consent 
to  the  deed  being  made  to  the  brothers  direct,  and  Brother  Boy- 
len himself  proving  very  unfit,  the  plan  failed.  The  bishop,  con- 
ceiving that  a  spot  at  some  distance  from  the  city  would  be 
most  advantageous  for  the  purpose,  purchased  some  property  at 
Nyack,  on  the  North  River,  and  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  col- 
lege on  the  29th  of  May,  1833.  This  step  aroused  all  the  big- 
otry of  the  enemies  of  Catholicity ;  the  pulpits  echoed  with  loud 
declaimers  against  the  Church ;  the  application  for  an  incorpora- 
tion was  opposed  by  an  eager  body  of  remonstrants,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Brownlee  preached  so  zealously  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Nyack,  and  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  inhabitants  of  that  part 
the  danger  of  having  a  Catholic  college  there,  that  the  college 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


,;■,.. 


401 


itself  was  accidentally  destroyed  by  fire  I  No  doubt  can  exist  in 
the  mind  of  any  reasonable  man  that  the  torch  of  an  incendiary 
was  applied  to  this  Catholic  institution,  as  it  had  already  been  to 
St.  Mary's  Church  in  1831 ;  for  threats  had  not  been  withheld, 
and  the  bishop  had  even  sought  the  protection  of  the  authorities 
for  his  rising  seat  of  learning.*  Yet  so  it  was :  the  men  whose 
chief  capital  was  to  accuse  Catholics  of  ignorance,  moved  heaven 
and  earth,  and  branded  their  own  souls  with  guilt,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent Catholics  from  aftbrding  a  suitable  education  to  their  children. 

Bishop  Dubois  next  endeavored  to  establish  a  college  at  Brook- 
lyn, where  Cornelius  Heeny,  Esq.,  ofiered  ground  for  the  purpose ; 
but  his  conditions  proved  onerous,  and  the  plan  was  abandoned. 
A  subsequent  attempt  at  Lafargeville,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
State,  was  more  successful,  but  it  was  too  remote  from  the  great 
body  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  college  was  finally  closed. 

The  excitement  against  the  Catholics,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  was  entirely  the  work  of  clergymen  who  lost  no  occasion 
of  attacking  the  Catholic  doctrines- and  the  character  of  Catho- 
lics as  individuals  and  as  citizens.  They  were  not,  however,  un- 
answered. The  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power,  the  Very  Rev.  Felix 
Varela,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Levins, 
met  their  antagonists  with  zeal  and  ability.  Of  the  first  of 
these  clergymen  we  have  already  spoken.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Varela 
was  no  less  eminent  a  man.  Born  at  Havana,  in  the  island  of 
Cuba,  in  i 787,  he  early  devoted  himself  to  the  ecclesiastical 
state,  and  became  a  distinguished  professor  in  the  University  of 
San  Carlos,  in  his  native  city.  A  man  of  great  charity,  he  was 
known  and  esteemed  by  all,  and  was  unanimously  chosen  a 
deputy  to  the  Spanish  Cortes  under  the  Constitution  in  1822. 
Protesting  against  the  overthrow  of  the  new  government,  he 
became  an  exile,  and  in  1823  chose  for  his  new  home  the  soil 


*  Varela,  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii.  148.    New  York,  1838. 


402 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUECH 


of  the  United  States.  He  was  totally  unacquainted  with  the 
language,  and  the  climate  during  the  first  years  of  his  residence 
nearly  proved  fatal  to  him.  In  spite  of  honorable  invitations  to 
proceed  to  other  countries,  he  preferred  to  remain  and  labor  for 
the  Catholics  of  the  United  States.  "  I  am  in  affection,"  he 
says,  "  a  native  of  this  country,  although  I  am  not  nor  ever  will 
be  a  citizen,  having  made  a  firm  resolution  to  become  a  citizen  of 
no  other  country  after  the  occurrences  which  have  torn  me  from 
my  own.  I  never  expect  to  see  it  again,  but  I  think  that  I  owe  it 
a  tribute  of  my  love  and  respect  by  uniting  myself  to  no  other." 
He  landed  in  Philadelphia  in  1823,  but  soon  proceeded  to 
New  York,  and  was  successively  assistant  at  St.  Peter's,  pastor 
of  Christ  Church,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Transfiguration,  which 
he  erected.  He  was  a  solid  theologian,  and  wrote  several  works 
in  his  native  language,  which  circulated  extensively  through  Cuba 
and  Spanish  America,  and  in  English  contributed  extensively  to 
the  Catholic  papers  and  periodicals.  Of  these  fugitive  pieces  of 
his,  that  entitled  "  The  Five  Different  Bibles  distributed  and  sold 
by  the  American  Bible  Society"  was  probably  the  happiest,  and 
attracted  most  notice.  It  compelled  that  Society  to  throw  off 
the  mask,  and  not  condemn  a  Catholic  translation  in  one  lan- 
guage while  they  circulated  it  in  another,  or  to  omit  in  one 
edition  certain  books  as  uninspired,  and  put  them  in  another  as 
inspired.  Dr.  Varela  did  not  shrink  from  oral  discussion,  and 
as  early  as  1831  accepted  an  invitation  to  defend  the  Catholic 
doctrine  in  an  assembly  of  ministers  presided  over  by  the  noto- 
rious Dr.  Brownlee,  who,  finding  the  audience  completely  aston- 
ished and  convinced  by  the  reasoning  of  the  talented  Cuban 
ecclesiastic,  endeavored  to  persuade  the  meeting  that  Dr.  Varela 
had  stated  what  was  not  Catholic  doctrine,  and  that  he  would 
be  surely  suspended  by  his  bishop.* 


*  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii. 


itssmitsssi 


mm 


fr 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


403 


It  is,  however,  chiefly  for  his  zeal  as  a  pastor,  and  for  his 
boundless  charity,  that  he  will  be  remembered  by  the  faithful  of 
New  York.  How  he  lived  was  a  wonder  to  his  friends,  for  he 
gave  away  every  thing  to  the  poor — the  clothing  off  his  back, 
the  spoons  from  his  table,  when  he  had  not  the  money  to  be- 
stow ;  and  these  acts  would  not  have  been  known,  had  not  the 
objects  of  his  charity  been  on  two  occasions,  to  his  great  distress, 
arrested  as  thieves.  He  inspired  his  congregation  with  a  spirit 
of  piety,  and  will  long  be  remembered  by  the  faithful  whom  he 
guided  in  the  way,  together  with  the  holy  Carthusian  Father, 
Alexander  Mopiatti,  who  was  for  a  time  the  partner  of  his  labors. 
After  nearly  thirty  years'  labor  in  the  ministry,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Varela  died,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1853,  at  St.  Augustine, 
whither  he  had  retired  for  his  health. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller  is  still  in  the  ministry,  in  the  diocese 
of  Brooklyn,  and  was  long  pastor  at  Albany,  as  we  shall  see 
elsewhere.  The  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Levins  was  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  Possessing  great  mathematical  talents,  skilful 
as  a  lapidary,  a  thorough  theologian  and  dialectician,  he  was  too 
versatile  to  endure  the  confinement  of  a  college,  and,  contrary  to 
the  rules  of  his  order,  contributed  to  the  Washington  press  arti- 
cles which  attracted  universal  attention.  When  the  authorship 
became  known,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
and  came  to  the  diocese  of  New  York.  As  pastor  of  St.  Pat- 
rick's, he  was  the  favorite  of  the  people,  especially  from  his  con- 
troversial talents,  and  the  opponents  of  Catholicity  justly  dreaded 
his  arguments.  Unfortunately,  he  was  deficient  in  amiability  of 
character,  and  his  asperity  led  him  to  treat  the  bishop  with  dis- 
respect and  disobedience.  At  last,  Bishop  Dubois  silenced  him, 
and  a  struggle  at  once  arose  :  the  trustees  of  St.  Patrick's  ad- 
hered to  Mr.  Levins,  and  refused  to  pay  the  salary  of  the  new 
pastor  appointed  by  the  bishop.  To  widen  the  breach,  they  also 
lamed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Levins  rector  of  the  Free  School,  with  a 


Hj 


t 


404 


THE  CATHOLIC  OHUBCH 


salary  sufficient  for  his  support.  A  new  conflict  resulted :  a 
Sunday-school  teacher  appointed  by  the  bishop  was  ordered  out 
of  the  house  by  the  rector,  and  on  his  return  the  next  Sunday,  he 
was  sfopped  by  a  constable  ready  to  arrest  him  on  the  written  or- 
der of  the  trustees.  The  bishop,  grieved  to  the  heart  at  an  insult 
to  his  authority  thus  openly  given,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  con- 
gregation of  his  cathedral.  "  The  trustees  seem  to  think,"  he 
says,  "  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  employ  whatever  power  they 
can  extract  from  the  charter,  or  obtain  from  the  civil  laws  as  a 
corporation,  in  a  kind  of  perennial  conflict  with  and  against  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  which 
they  should  be  the  firmest  and  foremost  to  uphold,  aa  Catholics 
first,  and  as  trustees  afterwards.  It  is  possible  that  the  civil  law 
gives  them  power  to  send  a  constable  to  the  Sunday-school,  and 
eject  even  the  bishop  himself.  But,  if  it  does,  it  gives  them,  we  have 
no  doubt,  the  same  right  to  send  him  into  the  sanctuary,  and  remove 
any  of  these  gentlemen  from  before  the  altar.  And  is  it  your  inten- 
tion that  such  power  be  exercised  by  your  trustees  ?  If  so,  then 
it  is  almost  time  for  the  ministers  of  the  Lord  to  forsake  your 
temple,  and  erect  an  altar  to  their  God,  around  which  religion 
shall  be  firee,  the  Council  of  Trent  fully  recognized,  and  the  laws 
of  the  Church  applied  to  the  government  and  regulation  of  the 
Church." 

Proceeding  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  the  usurpation  by  the 
trustees  of  authority  which  the  Church  never  gave — that  of  ap- 
pointing the  pastor  to  administer  the  sacraments,  the  choir  to 
take  part  in  the  performance  of  divine  worship,  the  sexton  to 
take  care  of  the  altar,  the  teacher  to  guide  the  young — he 
showed  how  utterly  inconsistent  it  was  with  the  very  first  ideas 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  announces  his  resolution  to  extirpate 
it.  "  Do  not  suppose  that  the  Church  of  God,  because  she  has 
no  civil  support  for  her  laws  and  discipline,  is  therefore  obliged 
to  see  them  trampled  on  by  her  own  children,  without  any  means 


ir 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


405 


for  their  preservation.  She  has  means ;  and  it  is  necessary  that 
her  discipline  be  restored,  and  the  abuses  on  the  part  of  your 
trustees,  to  which  we  have  alluded,  be  disavowed  and  re- 
moved." 

The  trustees,  however,  did  not  yield ;  they  threatened  to  cut  off 
the  bishop's  own  salary,  unless  he  gave  them  such  clergymen  as 
they  asked  ;  but  they  little  knew  the  spirit  of  the  aged  prelate. 
"  Gentlemen,"  he  replied,  "  you  may  vote  me  a  salary  or  not ;  I 
need  little  ;  I  can  live  in  a  basement  or  a  garret ;  but  whether  I 
come  up  from  my  basement  or  down  from  my  garret,  I  shall  still 
be  your  bishop." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Levins  was,  however,  sensible  that  this  struggle 
could  only  injure  him,  and  retired  from  the  field.  Irreproach- 
able in  his  moral  conduct,  he  resided  near  the  bishop,  engaged 
in  literary  pursuits  or  mathematical  studies,  and  even  employed 
his  talents  as  engineer  on  the  Croton  Aqueduct.  Restored 
some  years  after,  he  died  at  New  York,  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1843. 

These  were  not  the  only  troubles  under  the  administration  of 
Bishop  Dubois.  The  outrage  at  Charlestown  had  its  sympathi- 
zers in  New  York,  and  a  couple  of  years  later,  a  mob  assembled 
to  destroy  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral ;  but  they  knew  little  of  the 
Catholics  of  New  York  when  they  devised  their  plans.  The 
church  was  put  in  a  state  of  defence :  the  streets  leading  to  it 
were  torn  up,  and  every  window  was  to  be  a  point  whence  mis- 
siles could  be  thrown  on  the  advancing  horde  of  sacrilegious 
wretches;  while  the  wall  of  the  churchyard,  rudely  crenelled, 
bristled  with  the  muskets  of  those  ready  for  the  last  struggle  for 
the  altar  of  their  God  and  the  graves  of  those  they  loved.  So 
fearful  a  preparation,  unknown  to  the  enemies  of  religion,  came 
upon  them  like  a  thunderclap  when  their  van  had  nearly  reached 
the  street  leading  to  the  Cathedral ;  they  fled  in  all  directions,  in 
dismay ;  and  so  complete  has  the  prestige  been,  that  neither  in 


r" 


■■f'lr-'.irTWT'jTi'" 


406 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


1844  nor  in  1866  was  there  any  demonstration  against  the 
churches  in  New  York.* 

New  York  could  now  number  several  churches,  and  others  had 
arisen  in  various  parts  of  the  diocese.  These  were  not  all,  how- 
ever, for  Catholics  of  the  English  tongue.  Emigrants  from  Ger- 
many began  to  pour  in,  many  of  whom  were  Catholics,  and 
among  the  new  churches  we  find  that  of  St.  Nicholas,  for  the 
Germans,  due  chiefly  to  the  zeal  and  devotedness  of  the  Rev. 
John  RaflFeiner,  a  native  of  Brixia,  in  the  Tyrol,  who,  in  1833, 
arriving  in  the  country,  first  began  to  labor  exclusively  among 
the  German  Catholics,  not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  the  vicinity, 
at  Brooklyn,  Williamsburg,  Macopin,  in  New  Jersey,  and  even  as 
far  as  Boston,  Utica,  and  Rochester,  in  almost  all  of  which  he 
erected  the  churches  or  prepared  the  ground  completely  for 
others.f 

This  German  emigration  was  not  all  induced  by  political  rea- 
sons, or  the  desire  of  bettering  their  condition  in  life.  In  aston- 
ishment and  shame,  the  Protestants  of  the  United  States  beheld 
numbers  arrive  whom  the  intolerance  of  the  Prussian  king  had 
forced  to  abandon  their  happy  homes.  Whole  villages,  with 
their  Lutheran  pastors,  preferred  to  risk  all  in  seeking  the  New 
World,  to  submitting  to  the  tyrannical  behests  of  their  Prot- 
estant monarch,  who  sought  to  constitute  the  various  churches, 
as  he  did  his  array.  Among  the  pastors  who  accompanied  the 
exiles  was  Rev.  John  James  Maximilian  (Ertel,  a  graduate  of  the 
University  of  Erlang.  He  had  hoped,  in  free  America,  to  fiod 
the  Lutheran  churches  faithful  to  their  original  form ;  but,  to  his 
disappointment,  he  beheld  them  voluntarily  blending  with  those 
churches  which  all  the  power  of  Prussia  could  not  force  him  to 
accept.    All  the  doctrines  of  Luther  had  been  abandoned,  ex- 

*  Cartas  a  Elpidio,  ii.  142. 

t  He  erected  St.  Nicholas's  and  St.  John's  at  New  York,  Holy  Trinity  at 
Boston,  Holy  Trinity  in  Williamsbiirj;,  and  another  at  Maoopin. 


MIMIiii 


i^r- 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


407 


gainst  the 

)ther8  had 
I,  all,  how- 
from  Ger- 
lolics,  and 
IS,  for  the 
:  the  Rev. 
),  in  1833, 
ely  among 
tie  vicinity, 
,nd  even  as 
'  which  he 
ipletely  for 

olitical  rea- 
In  aston- 

ates  beheld 
king  had 


ages, 


with 


t  the  New 
their  Prot- 

churches, 
panied  the 
uate  of  the 
ica,  to  find 

but,  to  his 
with  those 
irce  him  to 

doned,  ex- 

)ly  Triuity  at 


oept  his  hostility  to  Rome;  and  this  feeling,  which  had  been 
nursed  by  the  arbitrary  princes  and  parliaments  of  Europe,  he 
thought  least  characteristic  of  all  of  the  Church  founded  by  our 
Lord.  He  began  to  examine  the  great  religious  question,  and  he 
was  soon  convinced  that  the  Reformers  had  no  divine  mission  to 
alter  the  received  creed  and  worship  of  Christendom;  and 
that,  without  such  mission,  their  work  was  but  a  sacrilege,  such 
as  God  punished  of  old  by  sudden  vengeance  on  those  who  pre- 
tended to  assume  the  priesthood'  of  .His  worship.  Mr.  (Ertel 
became  a  Catholic,  and  after  being  received  into  the  Church,  has 
devoted  himself  to  editing  a  German  Catholic  paper. 

Academies  for  the  instruction  of  girls  were  also  formed  by  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  the  first  having  been  opened  in  1830,  during 
the  absence  of  Bishop  Dubois  in  Europe.  Another  very  flour- 
ishing one  was  afterwards  established  in  the  Seventh  Ward,  and, 
under  the  able  direction  of  Sister  William  Anna,  trained  many 
young  Catholic  ladies  in  useful  learning  and  accomplishments, 
adorned  by  the  practice  of  religion.  This  school,  at  a  later  date, 
gave  rise  to  the  Academy  of  Mount  St.  Vincent,  at  Harlem, 
which  is  now  the  mother-house  of  the  order,  as  founded  by 
Mrs.  Seton. 

Among  the  clergymen  who  joined  the  diocese  of  New  York 
during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Dubois,  we  cannot  omit  to  men- 
tion the  Rev.  Charles  C.  Pise,  so  well  known  by  his  popular 
writings  in  prose  and  verse,  and  as  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
preacher.  Before  coming  to  New  York,  he  had  published  a  suc- 
cinct Church  History,  and  subsequently  wrote  the  Lives  of  St. 
Ignatius  and  his  companions,  several  volumes  of  poems,  tales,  a 
work  on  the  Doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  several  minor  trea- 
tises. In  fact,  he  first  endeavored  to  give  the  young  Catholics  of 
America  reading  which  would  be  attractive  and  innocent.  Like 
many  good  works,  this  at  first  found  many  assailants,  and,  borne 
down  by  the  fierce  criticism  of  Catholic  reviewers,  the  publisher 


408 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


of  these  popular  Catholic  works  was  compelled  to  stop  the  pub- 
lication. All,  however,  now  admit  the  necessity  of  a  literature  of 
this  kind,  of  which  Dr.  Pise  must  be  considered  the  founder.* 

About  1837,  Bishop  Dubois  began  to  sink  under  the  labors 
which  the  increase  of  his  diocese  imposed  upon  him.  He  so- 
licited a  coadjutor,  and  the  Rev.  John  Hughes,  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  was  appointed  by  the  Holy  See,  Bishop  of  Basile- 
opolis  in  partibus  infidelium,  and  Coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  New 
York.  At  this  time,  the  dif)ce8e  comprised  seven  churches  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  eleven  in  other  parts  of  the  State,  and  four  in 
New  Jersey,  attended  in  all  by  fifty  clergymen,  who,  besides,  vis- 
ited regularly  twelve  other  stations  where  churches  had  not  been 
erected ;  the  college  at  Nyack  had  been  abandoned,  and  the 
schools  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  New  York  and  Albany  were 
the  only  academies,  and  their  orphan  asylums,  in  the  same  cities, 
and  at  Brooklyn  and  Utica,  the  only  eleemosynary  institutions. 

Such  was  the  result  of  the  administration  of  Bishop  Dubois, 
whose  zeal,  ever  checked  or  poorly  seconded,  had  not  been  able 
to  endow  his  diocese  with  those  establishments  which  its  necessi- 
ties imperatively  called  for.  Of  the  clergy  whom  he  had  gath- 
ered around  him,  it  was,  however,  consoling  to  think,  that  sixteen 
had  been  ordained  by  his  own  hands.f 

About  a  fortnight  after  the  appointment  of  his  coadjutor,  the 
venerable  bishop,  whose  health  had  been  gradually  failing,  was 
attacked  by  paralysis,  and  never  finally  recovered.  The  duties 
of  his  office  devolved  on  Bishop  Hughes,  who  was  in  the  follow- 
ing year  appointed  administrator  of  the  diocese.  Bishop  Dubois 
prepared  for  his  last  moments  with  all  the  calmness  and  tranquil 
piety  which  had  characterized  him  in  life,  taking  the  deepest  in- 
terest in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  flock  to  which  he  had  been 


*  For  a  notice  of  Dr.  Pise  and  his  works,  you  may  consult  Duyckinck's 
Cyclopaedia  of  American  Literature — in  vain  1 
t  Catholic  Almanac  for  1888,  p.  88. 


Jf 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


409 


80  long  attached.  He  expired  at  hii  sideuce,  on  Tuesday,  the 
20th  of  December,  1842,  without  a  struggle  and  without  a  sigh, 
with  a  prayer  on  his  lips,  and  a  sweet  hope  of  heavenly  rest  in 
his  heart.  At  his  own  humble  request,  he  was  interred  under 
the  pavement  before  the  main  door  of  his  cathedral. 

Bishop  Dubois  can  never  be  forgotten  in  the  annals  of  the 
American  Church  :  whether  we  regard  hira  in  the  outset  of  his 
career  as  the  young  missionary,  of  iron  constitution,  teaching  for 
his  support  and  evangelizing  Norfolk  and  Richmond ;  or  as  pas- 
tor at  Frederick,  visiting  the  vast  district  committed  to  his  care, 
when,  to  use  the  words  of  the  venerable  clergyman  who  pro- 
nounced his  funeral  discourse,  "he  was  the  pastor  of  all  "Western 
Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  for  some  time  the  only  Catholic 
priest  between  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  the  city  of  St.  Louis ;" 
or,  at  a  later  date,  erecting  the  college  at  the  Mount,  and,  by  di- 
recting Mrs.  Seton,  taking  so  active  a  part  in  the  good  accom- 
plished by  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  As  bishop,  he  did  not  forget 
his  early  predilection,  and  was  ever  more  assiduous  in  catechising 
the  young  than  in  preaching  to  the  grown.  His  career  as  a 
bishop  we  have  seen  one  of  unostentatious,  but  active  and  un- 
tiring benevolence.  His  visitations  of  his  diocese  were  frequent, 
and,  though  ever  anxious  for  the  preservation  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  he  was  a  kind  father  to  his  clergy,  a  friend  and  bene- 
factor to  the  poor,  a  pastor  full  of  solicitude  to  supply  abundantly 
the  spiritual  wants  of  his  extensive  diocese.* 

His  worth  was  not  unrecognized.  Immediately  after  his  death, 
the  faculty  and  students  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  convened,  and  re- 
solved to  erect  a  monument  at  the  mountain  to  "  the  founder  of 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary,  and  the  father  of  the 
Institution  of  Sisters  of  Charity  in  this  country." 


*  Sov.  John  M'Caffrey,  Discourse  on  the  Right  Eev.  John  Dubois,  D.  D., 
Gettysburg,  1843.  Bishop  Bayley,  Brief  Sketch,  pp.  103,  104.  Catholic  Al- 
manac, 1845,  p.  43.    White,  Life  of  Mrs.  Seton,  446. 

18 


f1^ 


410 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


CHAPTER     XXV. 

DIOCESE    OF   NEW   YORK — (1888-1856). 

Eight  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Coadjutor  and  then  Bishop  of  Now  York— He  overthrows 
trusteeism — The  school  question— Bishop  Hughes  before  the  Common  Council— St 
John's  College — The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  Madame  Galiitzin— The  Re- 
demptorists — The  Tractarlan  movement,  and  the  conversions  resulting  from  it— 
The  French  Church  and  the  Bisliop  of  Nancy — Appointment  of  Right  Rev.  John 
McCioskey  as  Coadjutor— The  Sisters  of  Mer  ;— Reorganization  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity — Division  of  the  diocese— Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools — Progress  of 
Catholicity  In  other  parts  of  the  diocese — Now  ^ork  erected  into  an  archiepiscopal 
See— Erection  of  the  Seee  of  Brooklyn  and  Newf.rk — First  Provincial  Council  of  New 
York— The  Church  Property  Bill  and  the  discussion  with  Senator  Brooks— Ret- 
rospect. 

No  prelate  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States  has  been  more 
widely  known,  or  attracted  a  greater  share  of  the  public  atten- 
tion, than  the  Right  Re\'.  John  Hughes,  who,  under  the  title  of 
Bishop  of  Basileopolis,  became,  in  1838,  the  Coadjutor  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York.  Possessing  in  an  eminent  degree  the 
talent  of  discerning  the  public  mind,  and  its  constant  fluctua 
tions,  able  and  eloquent  as  an  orator  and  controversialist,  he 
will  rank  among  the  statesmen  no  less  than  among  the  prelates 
of  America.  Born  in  Ireland,  of  a  family  originally  Welsh,  but 
long  identified  with  the  Scoto-Irish,  he  was  the  son  of  a  farmer 
of  moderate  but  comfortable  means,  and  owed  his  early  training 
to  the  care  of  a  kind  and  careful  mother,  to  whom  he  thus  beau- 
tifully alludes  in  his  letter  to  General  Cass :  "  The  first  person 
whose  acquaintance  I  made  on  this  earth  was  a  woman.  Her 
pretensions  were  humble,  but  to  me  she  was  a  great  lady — nay, 
a  very  queen  and  empress.  She  was  more — she  was  my  earliest 
friend ;  my  visible,  palpable  guardian-angel.     If  she  smiled  ap- 


/  / 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


proval  on  me,  it  was  as  a  ray  from  Paradise  shed  oi  mv  heart. 
If  she  frowned  disapproval,  it  seemed  like  a  partial  or  tola.  «clip»e 
of  the  sun."* 

Without  friend,  protector,  or  patron,  he  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1817,  and  proceeded  to  Mount  St.  Mary's,  in  order  to 
enter  as  a  seminarian.  No  vacancy  existed,  and  for  a  time  he 
pursued  his  studies  privately ;  but  soon  obtained  entrance,  and 
for  seven  or  eight  years  prosecuted  his  studies  and  taught  the 
various  classes  committed  to  his  care.  Ordained  priest,  he  was 
sent  to  Philadelphia,  and  here,  for  eleven  years,  won  general  re- 
spect and  esteem  by  his  zealous  discharge  of  the  duties  of  a 
Christian  pastor.  He  erected  St.  John's  Church  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing wants  of  the  Catholic  public,  and  established  a  perma- 
nent reputation  as  a  controversialist  by  his  discussions  with  the 
Rev.  John  Breckenridge,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who  had 
publicly  challenged  the  Catholics  to  discuss  the  great  question 
of  religion  with  him.  The  controversy  was  at  first  carried  on 
in  writing,  on  the  subject,  "  Is  the  Protestant  religion  the  religion 
of  Christ  ?"  and  Mr.  Breckenridge,  after  some  months,  defeated 
at  every  step,  virtually  abandoned  the  field.  He  subsequently 
returned  to  the  attack,  and  insisted  on  an  oral  discussion.  Again 
did  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes  meet  the  champion  of  Protestantism, 
on  the  question,  "  Is  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  in  any  or  in 
all  its  principles  or  doctrines,  inimical  to  civil  or  religious  liber- 
ty ?"  and  again,  by  the  common  consent  of  all  impartial  judges, 
most  signally  triumphed  over  his  adversary,  upholding  the  truth 
of  history,  showing  not  only  that  the  Catholic  Church  had  never 
sanctioned  persecution,  much  less  made  it  a  part  of  her  creed, 
but  that  Protestantism  rose  by  rapine  and  persecution,  and  only 
by  violence  had  been  able  to  maintain  its  existence.f 


*  Keply  to  General  Cass,  p.  15. 

t  Oral  Diacusaion  on  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion.     Philadelphia,  1836. 


412 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


These  discussions  were  not  fruitless :  they  enabled  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Hughes  to  gain  to  the  Church  many  Protestant  funiilics,  and 
among  other  persons  of  eminence,  Dr.  W.  E.  Horner,  a  physi- 
cian whose  eminent  reputation  for  medical  science  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  his  native  country,  and  whose  anatomical 
works  enjoy  the  highest  reputation. 

The  appointment  of  Dr.  Hughes  as  Coadjutor  of  New  York 
was  a  new  era  for  Catholicity  in  that  extensive  diocese.  He 
came  at  a  moment  when  trusteeism  was  in  open  array  against 
the  Episcopal  authority,  and  he  resolved  to  overthrow  a  sys- 
tem so  much  at  variance  with  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  and 
which  had  in  the  United  States  proved  so  prejudicial  to  religion. 
As  the  trustees  claimed  to  hold  the  treasury  and  so  rule  the 
house  of  God,  he  at  once  appealed  to  the  faithful,  whom  the 
trustees  could  in  no  sense  be  said  to  represent ;  and  advised  the 
people  to  give  their  collection,  not  to  their  rebellious  trustees,  but 
to  their  duly  appointed  pastors,  whose  support  was  by  the  laws 
of  the  Church  obligatory  upon  them.  Following  up  the  ground 
taken  in  the  pastoral  address  of  Bishop  Dubois  to  the  congrega- 
tion of  his  Cathedral,  in  February,  1838,  he  presided  at  a  meet- 
ing, and  so  clearly  developed  the  real  state  of  the  question,  that 
it  was  determined  that  the  whole  system  should  in  future  be 
made  to  conform  to  the  canon  law.  Another  cause  soon  led  to 
the  complete  overthrow  of  trusteeism  :  this  was  the  extravagance 
of  the  expenditure  of  the  Church  moneys  by  the  boards  of  trus- 
tees, and  the  bankruptcy  of  five  boards  of  as  many  churches  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  out  of  eight,  the  whole  number  then  ex- 
isting. Of  these,  that  of  St.  Peter's,  in  Barclay-street,  owed 
debts  amounting  to  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  churches  were  all  assigned  or  sold  by  the  sheriff,  and 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hughes,  who  purchased  them  in 
his  own  right,  to  save  them  from  desecration.  The  State  gov- 
ernment, which  had  viewed  with  satisfaction  this  sad  state  of 


H 


,1 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


413 


Catholic  affaire,  produced  by  the  operation  of  the  act  of  roligioua 
incorporation,  seems  to  have  regretted  that  the  bishop  should 
have  been  able  to  secure  the  buildings  again  tor  Catholic  wor- 
ship, and,  as  we  shall  see,  passed  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
acts  which  can  bo  found  on  the  statute-books  of  any  civilizod 
country ;  an  act  which  pretended  to  take  from  the  bishop  prop- 
erty which  ho  had  purchased,  and  restore  it,  without  compensa- 
tion, to  the  very  boards  of  trustees  whose  legal  title  had  been 
legally  sold  by  operation  of  law  !* 

Soon  after  his  consecration.  Bishop  Hughes  resolved  to  visit 
Europe,  and  obtain  the  succor  which  religion  needed  in  the  dio- 
cese to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  For  this  purpose,  in  the 
course  of  the  year  1839  he  visited  France,  Austria,  and  Italy, 
everywhere  impressing  those  whom  he  met  with  his  rare  ability. 
Having  obtained  much  momentary  aid  and  fonned  his  plans  for 
the  religious  institutions  of  his  diocese,  he  returned  without  de- 
lay to  his  post.  There  a  question  of  great  importance  had  at 
last  come  before  the  public,  and  one  in  which  the  bishop  could 
not  be  a  mere  spectator.  New  York  had  its  free  schools,  sus- 
tained by  the  State,  and  its  public  schools  under  the  control  of  a 
private  society,  but  receiving  public  moneys  to  carry  on  their 
establishments.  Not  one  of  these  schools  was  such  that  a  Cath- 
olic parent  could  conscientiously  send  a  child  to  it.  In  all,  the 
reading  of  the  mutilated  version  of  the  Scriptures,  termed  the 
King  James's  Bible,  was  obligatory,  and  it  was  expounded  by 
Protestant  teachers ;  in  all,  the  school-books  contained  slanders, 
insults,  and  absurdities  in  regard  to  Catholics  and  their  religion  ; 
and  such  schools,  supported  by  public  money,  were  the  only  free 
schools  in  which  the  poorer  Catholics  could  obtain  the  rudi- 
ments of  knowledge.     Had  Protestantism  been  the  established 


*  See  hia  Letter  on  the  moral  causes  that  have  produced  the  evil  spirit  of 
the  times,  p.  10. 


n 


M 


414 


THE    CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


religion  of  the  State  of  New  York,  this  would  have  been  en- 
durable ;  but,  as  the  law  established  no  religion.  Catholics  pro- 
tested. So  flagrant  did  the  wrong  appear,  that  a  Senator  of  the 
State  inserted  an  article  in  a  Catholic  paper  mooting  the  ques- 
tion of  a  regulation  of  the  schools  so  as  to  make  them  free  to  all. 
The  Catholics  began  to  hold  meetings,  formed  an  association,  and 
devised  plans  for  obtaining  relief;  the  governor  of  the  State  called 
attention  to  the  matter  in  his  message,  but  the  New  York  Com- 
mon Council  rejected  the  memorial  of  the  Catholics.  It  became 
the  great  question  of  the  day. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  Bishop  Hughes  return- 
ed to  his  See.  To  prevent  the  matter  from  being  made  a  politi- 
cal hobby,  he  resolved  to  attend  the  meetings,  and,  exercising  his 
right  as  a  citizen,  did  so.  "  In  these  meetings,"  we  quote  his 
own  language,  "  the  question  was  discussed — the  imperfect  edu- 
cation afforded  by  our  own  cliarity  schools — the  vast  number 
who  could  not  be  received  at  them — and  would  not  be  sent  to  the 
schools  of  the  Public  School  Society,  on  account  of  the  strong 
anti-Catholic  tendencies  which  they  manifested  through  the  me- 
dium of  objectionable  books,  prejudiced  teachers,  and  sectarian 
influences."* 

The  most  important  of  these  meetings  was  held  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1840  ;  the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  presided,  and  the  bishop 
for  the  first  time  addressed  the  Catholics,  and  advised  careful  but 
firm  action.  On  the  10th  of  August  an  address  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  to  their  fellow-citizens  appeared,  to  which  the  Public 
School  Society  issued  a  reply.  Then,  in  a  general  meeting,  the 
Catholics,  on  the  21st  of  September,  adopted  a  petition  to  the 
Common  Council  for  relief,  which,  after  exposing  the  sectarian 
character  of  the  Public  Schools,  and  the  fact  that  Catholics  had 


*  Letter  on  the  moral  causes  that  have  produced  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
times,  p.  8. 


been  en- 
lics  pro- 
)r  of  the 
;he  ques- 
ee  to  all. 
tion,  and 
ite  called 
rk  Com- 
,  became 

B  return- 

a  politi- 

ising  his 

note  his 

(ect  edii- 

number 

nt  to  the 

strong 

the  me- 

lectarian 

20th  of 
bishop 

eful  but 
Roman 
Public 

ing,  the 
to  the 

ectarian 
ics  had 

it  of  the 


1 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


415 


been  compelled  to  erect  schools  of  their  own,  which  they  offered 
to  submit  to  the  conditions  of  the  law  with  regard  to  religious 
teaching,  concluded  thus  :  "  Your  petitioners,  therefore,  pray  that 
your  honorable  body  will  be  pleased  to  designate  as  among  the 
schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  Common  School  fund,  upon 
complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  law,  or  for  such  other 
relief  as  to  your  honorable  body  shall  seem  meet,"  St.  Pati'ick's, 
and  six  other  schools  which  they  named. 

To  this  petition  two  remonstrances  were  made — one  by  the 
trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  the  other  by  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  pastors  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  On  the  29th  of  October,  1840,  the  parties  appeared 
before  the  Common  Council.  On  the  side  of  the  Catholic  peti- 
tionei-s,  the  bishop  set  forth  their  claims  and  answered  the  re- 
monstrances ;  the  Public  School  Society  had  employed  two  emi- 
nent lawyers,  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Esq.,  and  Hiram  Ketchum, 
who  now  answered  the  arguments  of  the  bishop :  the  former 
by  an  historical  view  of  our  Common  Schools,  and  an  attempt 
to  show  that  the  Public  School  Society,  being  good  and  suffi- 
cient, was  entitled  to  a  monopoly  in  the  matter  of  public  in- 
struction ;  the  latter  wrecked  his  reputation  as  an  advocate  by 
personal  attacks  on  the  bishop,  whom  he  could  style  only  "  the 
mitred  gentleman,"  and  by  completely  ignoring  the  petition,  and 
representing  it  as  an  attempt  of  the  Catholics  to  deprive  Prot- 
estants of  the  Bible.  These  were  followed,  on  subsequent  even- 
ings, by  Rev.  Drs.  Bond,  Bangs,  and  Reese,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  Knox,  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church,  each  of  whom,  in  turn,  seemed  tb  suppose  that  the 
Catholic  religion  was  the  subject  of  discussion,  and  commented 
on  its  tenets  with  all  the  zeal  of  partisans.  When  all  had  ended, 
the  bishop  rose  to  reply.  Summing  up  the  real  question,  so 
much  lost  sight  of,  he  said  :  "  It  is  the  glory  of  this  country,  that 


416 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


; 


k 


when  it  is  found  that  a  wrong  exists,  there  is  a  power,  an  irre- 
sistible power,  to  correct  the  wrong.  They  have  represented  us 
as  contending  to  bring  the  Catholic  Scriptures  into  the  Public 
Schools.  This  is  not  true.  They  have  represented  us  as  ene- 
mies to  the  Protestant  Scriptures,  '  without  note  or  comment ;' 
and  on  this  subject  I  know  not  whether  their  intention  was  to 
make  an  impression  on  your  honorable  body,  or  to  elicit  a  sym- 
pathetic echo  elsewhere ;  but  whatever  their  object  was,  they 
have  represented  that  even  here  Catholics  have  not  concealed 
their  enmity  to  the  Scriptures.  Now,  if  I  had  asked  this  hon- 
orable board  to  exclude  the  Protestant  Scriptures  from  the 
schools,  then  there  might  have  been  some  coloring  for  the  cur- 
rent calumny.  But  I  have  not  done  so.  I  say — Gentlemen  of 
every  denomination,  keep  the  Scriptures  you  reverence,  but  do 
not  force  on  me  that  which  my  conscience  tells  me  is  wrong.  I 
may  be  wrong,  as  you  may  be  ;  and,  as  you  exercise  your  judg- 
ment, be  pleased  to  allow  the  same  privilege  to  a  fellow-being 
who  must  appear  before  our  common  God,  and  answer  for  the 
exercise  of  it.  I  wish  to  do  nothing  Uke  what  is  charged  upon 
me ;  that  is  not  the  purpose  for  which  we  petition  this  honor- 
able board  in  the  name  of  the  community  to  which  I  belong. 
I  appear  here  for  other  objects ;  and  if  our  petition  be  granted, 
our  schools  may  be  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  public 
authorities,  or  even  of  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the 
Public  School  Society  ;  they  may  be  put  under  the  same  super- 
vision as  the  existing  schools,  to  see  that  none  of  those  phan- 
toms, nor  any  grounds  for  those  suspicions,  which  are  as  unchari- 
table as  unfounded,  can  have  existence  in  reality.  There  is, 
then,  but  one  simple  question — Will  you  compel  us  to  pay  a  tax 
from  which  we  can  receive  no  benefit,  and  to  frequent  schools 
which  injure  and  destroy  our  religious  rights  in  the  minds  of  our 
children,  and  of  which  in  our  consciences  we  cannot  appro\'e  ? 


4'< 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


417 


That  is  the  simple  question."*  He  then,  in  a  most  able  speech, 
answered  all  his  opponents,  legal  and  clerical,  and  showed  con- 
vincingly that  not  a  solitary  principle  laid  down  by  him,  or  laid 
down  in  the  petition,  had  been  refuted  by  them,  and  that  there- 
fore there  must  be  something  powerful  in  the  plain,  unsophisti- 
cated, simple  statement  of  the  petition,  when  all  the  reasoning 
brought  against  it  had  left  it  just  where  it  was  before. 

Simple  as  lue  petition  of  the  Catholics  was — that  their  schools 
conforming  to  the  law  should  enjoy  a  share  in  the  public  moneys 
monopolized  by  the  Public  School  Society,  a  Protestant  institu- 
tion which  ignored  the  law — the  question  was  misstated  in  the 
hall  of  the  Common  Council,  and  has  been  misre^  resented  a 
thousand  times.  The  fact  that  the  Catholics  proposed  to  sub- 
ject their  schools  to  State  supervision,  and  conform  the  teaching 
to  the  State  requirements,  is  perpetually  overlooked,  and  the 
charge  that  Catholics  asked  the  exclusion  of  the  Bible  repeated 
in  a  thousand  shapes.  The  question  was  no  longer  before  the 
tribunal  of  justice;  it  had  been  evoked  before  that  of  prejudice 
— what  wonder  that  the  petition  of  the  Catholics  was  rejected? 
But  the  blow  had  been  struck :  the  fact  was  clear  that  the 
Catholic  bishop  had  met  triumphantly  the  best  array  of  legal 
and  clerical  talent  in  the  city,  and  though  the  Common  Council 
might  decide  against  him,  the  whole  country  beheld  him  with 
admiration.f 

The  Catholics  had  anticipated  the  result ;  but  the  step  taken 
was  necessary  before  submitting  the  case  to  the  Legislature  of 
the  State.  In  due  time  petitions  were  forwarded,  signed  by  a 
large  number  of  citizens.  Catholics  and  Protestants,  natives  as 
well  as  foreigners.  The  prayer  of  this  petition  was  received  fa- 
vorably, because  it  seemed  to  be  but  reasonable  and  just.     A 


*  Report,  p.  4. 


t  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  111. 
18* 


•^v 


418 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHUBCH 


bill  was  drawn  up  which  passed  the  Assembly,  but  at  the  close 
of  the  session  was  lost  in  the  other  house !  All  now  looked  for- 
ward to  the  next  Legislature ;  and  no  calumny  that  ingenuity 
could  devise  was  left  untried  to  prejudice  the  popular  mind 
against  the  Catholics,  and  to  lead  to  a  resistance  to  any  change 
in  the  law.  As  the  election  drew  nigh,  the  opponents  of  free 
education  called  on  voters  to  require  the  candidates  of  both  po- 
litical parties  to  pledge  themselves  to  refuse  the  prayer  of  the 
petitioners.  The  candidates  of  the  Whig  party  did  so;  the 
candidates  of  the  Democratic  party,  to  which  the  great  mass  of 
the  Catholics  belonged,  did  so ;  and  the  Catholics  saw  an  elec- 
tion approach,  at  which  every  candidate,  without  waiting  for  a 
discussion  in  the  legislative  halls,  had  decided  to  deny  them  jus- 
tice. No  alternative  was  lefL.  Those  who  asked  schools  free  from 
sectarian  bias — where  teachers  should  not  be  allowed  to  attack 
any  creed,  where  no  school-books  should  slur  on  any  church, 
where  neither  Protestant  nor  Catholic  Bible  should  be  forced  on 
those  who  disowned  it — resolved  to  adopt  a  new  and  indepen- 
dent ticket.  As  the  bishop  well  remarked,  "  they  would  deserve 
the  injustice  and  degradation  of  which  they  complained,  if  they 
voted  for  judges  publicly  pledged  beforehand  to  pass  sentence 
against  them."* 

This  step,  totally  unexpected  by  the  Democratic  party,  which 
counted  the  Catholics  as  its  willing  slaves,  left  them  in  a  minor- 
ity, and  they  were  totally  defeated.  The  election  showed  the 
numerical  force  of  the  Catholics,  and  the  Whigs  now  sought  to 
gain,  the  Democrats  to  recall  them.  All  the  politicians  who  had 
scorned  the  petitions  of  the  Catholics  became  suddenly  sensible 
that  the  old  school  law  was  very  defective,  and  before  long  a 
new  act  was  passed,  erecting  ward-schools  on  a  far  more  equita- 


*  See  the  whole  matter  in  the  important  and  interesting  debate  on  the 
claim  of  the  Catholics  to  a  portion  of  the  Common  School  Fund.  New  York, 
1840. 


IN  THE  UNITED    STATES. 


419 


lose 

for- 

uity 

aind 

ange 

free 
bpo- 
f  the 
;  the 
ass  of 

elec- 

for  a 
im  jus- 
se  from 

attack 
;hurch, 
reed  on 
idepen- 
deserve 

if  they 
lentence 

|r,  which 
minor- 
red  the 

Lught  to 
irho  had 
sensible 
long  a 

le  equita- 

ite  on  tbe 
lew  York, 


ble  basis.  "  Experience  has  since  shown,"  says  Bislitop  Bayley, 
"  that  the  new  system,  though  administered  with  as  much  fair- 
ness and  impartiality  as  could  be  expected  under  the  circum- 
stances, is  one  which,  as  excluding  all  religious  instruction,  is 
most  fatal  to  the  morals  and  religious  principles  of  our  children, 
and  makes  it  evident  that  our  only  resource  is  to  establish 
schools  of  our  own,  where  sound  religious  knowledge  shall  be 
imparted  at  the  same  time  with  secular  instruction." 

We  have  seen  in  Philadelphia  how  this  question,  distorted 
and  misrepresented,  was  made  by  fanatics  the  means  of  organiz- 
ing a  new  political  party,  which,  under  the  name  of  Native 
Americans,  for  a  time  carried  the  elections,  and  left  as  monu- 
ments of  its  history,  riots,  rebellion,  murder,  devastation,  and 
sacrilege.  Then  and  since,  whenever  it  has  been  the  policy  of 
the  fanatic  to  fan  the  flame  of  ignorant  bigotry,  the  conduct  of 
the  bishop  has  been  made  the  subject  of  misrepresentation  and 
accusation.  In  his  letter  to  the  Hon.  James  Harper,  Native 
American  mayor  of  the  city  in  1344,  he  says,  and  defies  contra- 
diction :  "  I  have  never  asked  or  wished  that  any  denomination 
should  be  deprived  of  the  Bible,  or  such  version  of  the  Bible  as 
that  denomination  conscientiously  approved  in  our  common 
schools.  I  have  never  reqi  isted  or  authorized  the  blackening  of 
the  public  school  books  in  the  city  of  New  York."  Charged 
with  intriguing  with  political  parties,  he  denied  it  absolutely, 
and  says :  "  When  no  alternative  was  left  to  fhe  people,  long  de- 
prived of  the  rights  of  education,  but  to  vote  for  candidates 
bound  by  pledges  to  deny  them  justice  and  even  refuse  them  a 
hearing,  and  this  on  the  very  eve  of  the  election,  I  urged  them 
with  all  the  powers  of  my  mind  and  heart  to  repel  the  disgust- 
ing indignity  of  this  stratagem.  I  told  them  to  cut  their  way 
through  this  circle  of  fire,  with  which  the  opponents  of  the 
rights  of  education  narrow-mindedly  and  ungenerously  sur- 
rounded them.    I  told  them  that  they  would  be  signing  and 


420 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


sealing  their  own  degradation  if  they  voted  for  men  pledged  to 
refuse  them  even  the  chance  of  justice.  But  then  no  party — no 
individual  of  any  party — had  any  thing  to  do  with  the  prompt- 
ing of  this  advice  but  myself.  It  sprang  from  my  own  innate 
sense  of  duty — my  own  conception  of  the  rights  of  a  constituency 
in  a  free  government." 

Such  is  in  brief  the  history  of  the  famous  School  Question  in 
New  York — a  question  simple  in  itself,  but  which  Providence 
permitted  to  be  the  instrument  of  evoking  to  life  and  strength 
the  dormant  hatred  of'  Catholicity  slumbering  in  the  bosom  of 
American  Protestantism.  The  words  of  freedom  and  equality 
had  been  repeated  till  they  were  actually  supposed  to  exist ;  but 
when  Catholics  sought  to  make  them  realities,  they  found  that 
they  were  mere  conventional  symbols,  names  of  political  myths. 

The  bishop's  labors  for  education  were  n(rt  limited  to  this. 
Like  his  venerable  prelate,  he  sought  to  erect  a  college,  and  ad- 
vanced rapidly  the  arrangements  of  St.  John's  College  at  Ford- 
ham,  which  he  had  purchased  in  1839.  To  his  great  consolation 
and  the  joy  of  the  Catholics  of  his  diocese,  it  opened  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1841,  the  Rev.  John  M'Closkey,  the  present  Bishop  of 
Albany,  a  graduate  of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  universally  esteemed 
for  his  talents,  prudence,  and  amiableness,  being  the  first  presi- 
dent. Under  his  administration  it  soon  acquired  a  name  which 
it  has  ever  preserved.  He  was  soon,  however,  succeeded  by  the 
able  and  learned  Dr.  Ambrose  Manahan,  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent clergymen  in  the  United  States,  and  then  by  the  Rev.  John 
Harley,  a  man  peculiarly  fitted  for  his  post,  who  introduced  an 
admirable  system  of  study  and  discipline,  and  won  in  a  singular 
degree  the  affection  and  esteem  of  the  pupils. 

The  same  year  that  beheld  the  opening  of  this  new  college 
saw  rise  beside  it  a  beautiful  building  for  the  theological  semi- 
nary of  the  diocese — another  fruit  of  the  zealous  labors  of  the 
bishop.    This  institution  hoR  over  since  continued  in  a  flourishing 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


421 


college 

setni- 

lof  tbe 


condition,  having  in  1845,  when  the  college,  as  we  shall  see, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  re- 
ceived professors  of  that  celebrated  Order,  under  whose  zealous 
care  nearly  fifty  priests  have  been  formed  to  the  ecclesiastical 
state. 

The  introduction  of  a  religious  Order  capable  of  giving  the 
highest  order  of  education  to  young  Catholic  maidens  was  an- 
other object  of  the  zealous  prelate,  and  he  succeeded  in  obtaining 
from  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  a  colony  of  their  Order. 
The  Sisters  selected  by  the  Mother-general  of  the  Order  arrived 
in  1841,  and,  founding  a  house  of  their  Order,  immediately 
opened  an  academy  at  the  comer  of  Houston  and  Mulberry 
streets,  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy, 
Of  the  origin  of  this  society  we  have  spoken  elsewhere,  as  well 
as  of  their  rules  and  system  of  education,  both  based  on  the  ad- 
mirable discipline  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  Superior  of  the 
community  who  founded  the  convent  in  New  York — now  be- 
come the  mother  house  of  the  province,  or  vicariate  of  the  North 
— was  Madame  Elizabeth  Gallitzin,  whose  history  we  cannot  but 
insert.  Born  in  Russia,  of  that  princely  family  which  had  given 
the  American  Church  one  apostle,  she  was  brought  up  in  the 
Greek  Church,  although  her  mother  had  secretly  embraced  the 
Catholic  faith — a  circumstance  of  which  she  was  not  aware  until 
her  fifteenth  birthday.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  her  mother 
having  called  her  into  her  private  apartment,  disclosed  to  her  the 
secret  of  her  religion.  The  communication  deeply  aflBiicted  the 
young  Elizabeth,  and,  withdrawing  from  her  mother's  presv^nce, 
she  wept  bitterly  at  what  she  considered  a  heinous  crime.  After 
some  time  she  began  to  reflect  upon  the  causes  that  had  led  to 
her  mother's  change,  and  unable  to  discover  any  other,  she  con- 
cluded it  must  have  been  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits, 
several  of  whom  visited  the  house.  Filled  with  the  deepest 
anxiety,  she  said  to  herself,  "  If  these  hypocrites  have  so  seduced 


r  1":tn.  (^r- 


422 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


my  excellent  and  prudent  mother,  what  effect  will  not  their  influ- 
ence have  on  me !"  and  she  recalled  to  mind  with  terror  that  one 
was  actually  her  preceptor  in  the  Italian  tongue.  She  sought 
with  earnestness  a  protection  against  the  dangers  by  which  she 
felt  herself  surrounded,  and  a  sudden  thought  flashing  upon  her 
mind,  she  resolved  to  write  a  solemn  oath  never  to  change  her 
religion,  and  to  recite  it  daily.  Having  done  this  she  was  more 
composed,  and  retiring  to  rest,  slept,  as  she  herself  expresses  it, 
"  better  than  usual."  From  this  time  the  tone  of  her  existence 
seemed  changed.  Her  mother's  fearful  secret,  the  discovery  of 
which  involved  exile  or  death,  hung  heavily  upon  her  mind,  and 
though  during  the  daytime  she  appeared  gay,  at  night  she 
watered  her  couch  with  tears.  Deference  for  her  mother  and 
fear  of  wounding  feelings  sacred  in  her  eyes,  however  mistaken 
and  criminal  she  might  consider  them,  imposed  likewise  a  re- 
straint upon  her  intercourse  with  their  Jesuit  visitors,  and  par- 
ticularly her  preceptor.  The  latter  was  in  the  habit  of  presenting 
her  pictures,  rosaries,  etc.,  and  though  her  very  soul  loathed 
these  emblems  of  Catholic  faith,  yet  through  affection  for  her 
mother  she  accepted  them. 

To  a  mind  like  hers,  this  appearance  of  deceit,  however  justi- 
fiable in  its  motives,  was  intolerable.  She  finally  resolved  to  re- 
turn her  preceptor  his  gifts,  with  a  note  explaining  her  reasons, 
and  she  did  so,  after  submitting  the  note  to  her  mother,  for  not- 
withstanding her  repugnance,  she  never  forgot  the  respect  due 
her  parent. 

Some  months  after,  her  Italian  preceptor  having  died,  her 
mother  requested  her  to  attend  the  funeral  service.  Elizabeth 
consented,  though  unwillingly.  As  she  entered  the  church  she 
seemed  to  hear  an  interior  voice  say,  "  You  hate  the  Catholics, 
but  you  will  one  day  be  a  Catholic  yourself."  This  thought  so 
distressed  her  that  she  wept  bitterly.  Still  the  dictates  of  her 
naturally  noble  heart  soon  reminded  her  that  it  was  wrong  to 


r  f 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


423 


indulge  feelings  of  hatred  against  any  one.  Conscience  re- 
proached her  for  her  dislike  of  Catholics  and  Jesuits,  and  falling 
on  her  k   les,  she  poured  forth  fervent  prayers  for  them. 

Another  incident  painful  to  her  heart  soon  occuned.  One  of 
her  near  relatives  became  a  Catholic.  Elizabeth  was  much 
grieved,  but  with  characteristic  generosity  forbore  to  censure  in 
any  manner  her  cousin's  conduct.  "She  thinks  her  course 
right,"  said  she,  "  and  therefore  I  commend  her  for  acting  as  she 
has  done."  This  lady,  in  a  conversation  with  the  princess,  pressed 
her  to  read  some  books  whose  titles  she  mentioned,  and  even 
presented  her  with  one,  oflfering  to  send  her  the  others  whenever 
she  should  desire  them.  Elizabeth  took  the  book  through  cour- 
tesy, but  replied  to  the  oflfer,  that  being  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  truth  of  her  religion,  she  did  not  anticipate  having  any  need 
of  information  concerning  other  creeds.  These  were  her  words 
in  the  morning;  the  ensuing  night  beheld  her  a  Catholic  in 
heart  and  truth. 

Returning  home,  for  the  first  time  she  hesitated  to  renew  her 
oath — that  oath  which  for  twelve  months  no  weariness  could  in- 
duce her  to  omit.  A  feeling  of  its  rashness  came  over  her;  she 
paused  ere  she  knelt  to  repeat  the  solemn  words — a  powerful 
grace  was  busy  in  her  heart.  She  laid  the  paper  aside  and  re- 
tired to  rest.  Tumultuous  and  various  thoughts  agitated  her ; 
she  could  not  sleep,  and  finally  rising  from  her  restless  couch, 
her  eyes  fell  upon  the  book  presented  her  in  the  morning.  She 
opened  it ;  nor  had  she  read  many  pages  before  the  full  light  of 
truth  beamed  upon  her — she  fell  upon  her  knees — she  was  a 
Catholic. 

But  arguments  were  necessary  to  meet  the  objections  that 
would  be  urged  against  her  faith.  She  hastily  wrote  the  follow- 
ing words  to  her  cousin  :  "  Send  me  your  books — pray  for  me, 
and  hope."  Some  hours  after  she  was  summoned  to  meet  her 
mother,  to  whom  she  had  yet  to  communicate  her  joyful  secret. 


424 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Her  fiill  heart  was  relieved  by  a  flood  of  tears,  amid  which  she 
poured  forth  to  her  rejoicing  parent  the  recital  of  all  that  had 
passed  within  her  during  that  eventful  night. 

The  young  princess  had  received  from  God  a  favor,  great  in- 
deed, but  his  mercy  in  her  regard  did  not  stop  here.  She  heard 
the  voice  of  his  grace  speaking  to  her  heart,  and  calling  her  to 
his  spouse.  Long  years,  however,  elapsed  before  she  could  re- 
spond, the  czar  obstinately  refusing  permission  to  leave  the  coun- 
try ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  age  of  thirty  that  she  was  free.  She 
then  immediately  offered  herself  to  the  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  and  was  received  into  the  Roman  novitiate,  where  she 
edified  all  by  her  fervor  and  exact  fidelity  to  the  rules. 

After  her  profession  she  discharged  with  great  prudenf^e  many 
high  offices  in  the  S  ./ciety,  and  was  finally  sent  by  the  Superior- 
general  to  America  as  Visitatrix  of  the  Order.  Two  special  ob- 
jects were  also  intrusted  to  her  zeal  and  care — the  foundation  of 
the  house  at  New  York,  and  of  the  Pottowatamee  mission.  The 
former,  by  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  the  worthy  bishop,  she 
soon  accomplished ;  and  having  seen  the  academy  frequented  by 
pupils  of  the  highest  order,  she  set  out  for  the  West,  and  by  long 
and  laborious  journeys  reached  the  Pottowatamee  village.  There 
her  indomitable  energy  and  the  grace  of  Him  to  whom  she  had 
devoted  her  life,  and  for  whose  interest  she  labored,  triumphed 
over  every  obstacle.  This  mission  still  exists,  the  work  of  predi- 
lection of  the  Order. 

Madame  Gallitzin  then  proceeded  to  visit  the  houses  of  her 
Order  in  the  South,  and  twice  sailed  from  Paris  to  New  Orleans 
in  the  discharge  of  her  duties,  edifying  all  by  her  piety,  her  inex- 
haustible charity,  and  readiness  to  serve  others.  Ever  forgetful 
of  herself  she  endeavored  in  her  humility  to  conceal  her  great 
talents ;  but  her  hfe,  a  living  picture  of  religious  virtues,  only 
showed  them  a  clear  relief.  On  arriving  at  St.  Michael's,  in 
Louisiana,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1843,  two  of  the  Sisters 


muni 

fined, 

vanta^ 

.the  es 

they  ( 

they  h 

city  its 

speak  1 

been  m 

easily  v 

cultivat 

elegant 

almost  r 

parish  s< 

The  I 

which  re 

invited  h 

dies  in  t: 

their  spec 

i"elieved  t 


IN  THB  UNITM)  STATES.  ,„. 

were  attacked  by  the  yellow  fev„,     m  . 

good  mothe,  nhhough  i  7      ."'"''""''  °«"''^'°.  '*«  . 

nursed  them  herself,  /„d  yfeSto T"^  ,""""  "  »'"'*  f--. 
ease,  passed  on  the  8th  of  Decel!l"'  "'fl'"^  "^  "  '^"■«'  dis- 
fesfval  of  her  Xm,„ao„la.„  C„u^  "tion  ^^'■''"' '''"'  ""■'y  "'« 

Heart  of  which  she  had  bee'1 1      ","'"°"  "'"'  """  Sacred 
on  earth.  ^^  '"  "l^^'ed  an  adorer  „„d  servant 

Her  singular  enero-v  nf  h 
i-  conveying  i„st.u„fL'  her'l"'  'T  ^^ ''"  ''"«"'-  "Wli.y 
-  W  solid  virtues  and  e'x  lEtir    ^'^ """-'  "'  -" 
graven  on  the  hearts  of  her  Sisto  ''  °"«  ''''"'''■'  »- 

-nityowesi..  -te„irir,3^  77  f-'^ey,  that  the  -» 
fi»ed,  they  removed  to  vlstoria      *"''='"'■"&  ">«  oity  too  con- 
vantages,  and  in  1846  the  ladi.I  ""''''^  '"«'  "»  <i«ad- 
l^  estate  of  the  ,ate  ^l  trilrL'Tr  ^'  '"  -^'- 
tiiey  established  themselves  in  T         .*"'"'"''"""«• ''•'ere 
tiey  have  founded  a  new  consent  in' .""^  ^"'^    "'»-  "'»■' 
"ty  itself,  and  houses  at  Albany  an    B!ffT''r'r'"'''  ■"  "■« 
»Peak  hereafter.    Their  efforts^  ,2           ""  °'  "'''"''  "*  suall 
been  most  successful,  and  the  nli      "T"  "^  education  have 
easily  vocations  to  the  rdilns T      ,     ""*'"'"  '"'<'-  ''o- 
""'tivated.    Their  labors  rn;conrTr"r'  ''^'^  "'s'"  >« 
elegant  academies  to  which  weT         '"  """•'■'^""■o"  "f  «>« 

almost  maintain  gratuitous  schol  Z.         '''"  *""''^<''  «>ey 
parish  schools  in  the  city  '      ^  '^"•^"'  "»<'  "^  'he  largest 

.-S?,;S,'r  srCE^r-  -at  wants  unde. 
■fW  his  attention.  Zn^Zfl'^"  t*-  -oessities  now 
-*«  in  this  city  was  con^de""w^a„1  r"": ''""  «^™»  Cath- 
">-  special  use.  Fortuna  y  t  th  s  .  "'"  ""'^  "'^^^^  f- 
'■'■■eved  the  bishop  of  one  of  hesldM    r"  "'"'"^  ""«  "••» 

these  difficulties,  and  reared  a  shrino 


426 


cJf' 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Catholics  of  France  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  Germaim  were  the  next  object  of  the  solicitude  of 
the  Bishop  of  New  York.  Wo  have  seen  the  zeal  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Raft'finer  in  erecting  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas;  in  1839  he 
also  reared  that  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  in  Thirtieth-street,  but 
difficulties  ensued,  and  the  bishop  sought  to  obtain  a  religious 
Order  who  would  accept  the  mission  and  devote  themselves  to 
it.  He  applied  to  the  Rev.  Father  Alexander,  Superior  of  the 
Redemptorists  at  Baltimore,  who,  in  1842,  sent  Father  Gabriel 
Rumpler  to  take  charge  of  the  Church  of  St.  Nicholas ;  but  as 
the  trustees  would  not  cede  the  house  to  the  Order,  Father 
Rumpler  purchased  lots  in  Third-street,  where  the  Society  erect- 
ed a  convent  and  schools,  with  a  temporary  chapel,  replaced  in 
1853  by  that  noble  pile,  the  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer, 
in  which  the  offices  of  religion  are  performed  with  a  pomp  and 
display  most  consoling  to  the  hearts  of  the  exiled  Germans. 

The  Redemptorists  of  New  York  have  also  erected  the  Church 
of  St.  Alphonsus  for  the  use  of  the  Germans  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  city,  and  have  another  house  in  Buffalo.  Although  devoted 
in  a  special  manner  to  the  use  of  the  German  Catholics,  they 
were,  through  the  excellent  Father  Rumpler,  instrumental  in 
bringing  into  the  Church  a  number  of  young  Episcopalian  semi- 
narians, whom  the  Tractarian  movement  had  led  to  the  study  of 
Catholicity.  Of  these,  Mr.  Arthur  Carey  was  considered  the 
leader ;  and  so  notorious  were  his  Catholic  views,  that  when 
the  Protestant  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  about  to  ordain  him,  two 
of  the  attendant  clergymtjn  protested  against  any  such  mockery 
as  ordaining  a  minister  of  their  body  one  who  held  that  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  were  binding.  Mr.  Carey  was 
ordained,  but  died  soon  after  in  Cuba,  without  having  embraced 
the  truth  ;  for  one  link  had  been  wanting,  and  that  was  devotion 
to  Mary.  Many  of  the  other  seminarians  were  now  removed  01* 
retired,  but  their  course  was  not  clear  before  them.    One  of 


'N  THE  „N,TED  8TATM. 
them  »|),,|iod  to  Fatl.^H  p        ,  ' 

•"™*«  '.i»  ,-•.„,„  :;:,,,''::''';:;;';■<'. "'-''"'  ■•■■ « «-  - 

"-  "«^--'y  "f  saving  Lis  „„',"T'  '"  "'"'-•I'  ''"  «tood, 
forts   for  tl,„t   c,„l      ol^;     •"'"""■^''«'''-'-'yof„,i,  • 

t  e.r  abjuration.  Anxiou,  t„  dZ.  ,1  "  r"*-"'"™'  '■«''-•-«•' 
o<  «od  ,„  l,i,  ci,„„l,  several  o.  ,1  '  "-'T  """  '"  "'«  »«"■"«" 
order,  and    proceeded  to  Boll!  ,      ^'^'"  "^■"'^''"'  "'to  the 

A"er  their  ordination,  „o,t,    Car  T""  """'^  "-'"'"«• 
'""'od  to  the  United  States'  Ithe    A  '"  *""■""'  ''"•-•  ■•«■ 

order,  and  there  are  a  suflicic"     ,  ..tr'T""". '"""  '■"""'••''  "'^' 
the  manner  of  St.  Alphonl   .  r  '''°  ""■'»'°»«.  ""er 

"'-fy.  The  ,„ost  eminen  j-t"'""  ™'""  ?""»  »''  «- 
^«the,.r.T.Heeker,antl,orof"Q  r;  ""':'"  "'"W"'™  are 
^-  Howit,  translator  of  the    'J    TT  "'  "'"  ^'°"'''  R'tl-er 

Father  Wal.onh,  son  of  l,a,fch:    ',  °  '^"'"=^"'  ""--g'-," 
Yo.t,  the  eo,npi,er  of  the  "iW^'Tt"'  °'""  '""»  "''N- 
:  :»  ^^P'^'-  -  the  United  ^^^L^T^^l^'  ^'"•-  I>e3hon, 
missions  ,s  evident,  and  the  calls  Z2'  r  ?    '"""^"'J' "^ ^''•'h 
t  «y  can  meet;  Others  will,  ho:;"""."  .'''"■^'"  "^ --ore  than 

»'e»ti-  'h„s  called  to  this  meal  o/;'"'"  "'""""'  "'«'  th" 
--  of  the  Jesuits,  Lazari  ts  fnd  oth""!i^  "'  '"'"'•  *«  ""- 
«ew  development.  ^      ^  °*<"'  "'■''^'^  "fe  aeqniring  a 

The  young  seminarians  of  whom  w.  i, 

""'y  convert,  p.,d„ced  by  the    "lel^TnT"'"  '^^"'^  "»'  '""^ 

■"o-ement.    Some  account  of  this  17  ,  "  ^''"'^™'' 

""mber  of  the  clergymen  and  n,  '"''  ""^"^^d  ^cre.     A 

of  the  Fathers,  becfle    onvtc  ,  Z'  ,t  ^^'"^'''  "^  *<'  ^^"i 

fi'W  error,  bnt  hoped  to  slow  !u  *'  ^"'■"^''tion  was  I 

^""  «  pan  of  the'chu^h  c'h;^  ?/"?'r  «'-''  was 
. ___J^«hohc^,„,ght  resume  much 

^ners,  were  among  the  semi- 


428 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


that  had  been,  as  they  would  have  it,  not  rejected,  but  merely 
lost  sight  of  in  times  of  trouble.  The  antiquity  of  the  Mass 
was  evident,  with  its  doctrine  of  transubstantiation ;  the  power 
in  the  Church  of  forgiving  sins  no  less  so.  A  host  of  other  Cath- 
olic dogmas  were  in  the  same  position.  To  prepare  the  public 
mind  to  resume  these  points,  and  to  cut  oflf  Anglicanism  from 
all  connection  with  the  continental  reformers,  these  Oxford  di- 
vines began,  in  1833,  to  issue  a  series  of  tracts,  and  at  the  same 
time  published  many  devotional  works  drawn  from  Catholic 
sources,  with  translations  of  our  ascetical  works,  and  lastly,  a 
most  beautiful  series  of  lives  of  the  early  English  Saints.  At 
the  same  time,  they  attempted  to  restore  the  monastic  orders  and 
Catholic  ascetic'sra. 

Their  publications  excited  great  attention  both  in  England  and 
this  country,  from  the  singular  ability  of  the  writers,  among 
whom  were  Dr.  Pusey,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  Keble,  Faber,  New- 
man, Froude,  Dalgairns,  Oakley,  and  Ward ;  and  in  all  parts  a 
party  arose,  which  were  often  styled  Puseyites,  from  the  apparent 
leader  of  the  movement.  The  series  of  tracts  went  on  till  the 
ninetieth  appeared,  in  1841,  which  was  an  attempt  to  show  that 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  properly  understood,  were  not  at  vari- 
ance with  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  that  they 
were  no  bar  to  a  union  with  Rome.  So  strange  a  theory  roused 
a  storm  of  discussion ;  the  tracts  were  stopped,  pamphlet  after 
pamphlet  appeared  on  the  question.*  In  fact,  the  culminating 
point  had  arrived,  and  the  Oxford  divines  were  compelled  to 
forego  their  ground,  and  become  Protestants,  to  remain  Angli- 
can, or  submit  to  the  Holy  See,  in  order  to  be  really  Catholic. 
In  consequence,  many  clergymen  who  had  embraced  their  views, 
became  Catholics  in  the  following  years,  and  in  1845  the  Rev. 
John  Henry  Newman,  the  leader  of  the  movement,  and  author 


*  Cardinal  Wiseman^s  Eaeays,  ii.  265. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


429 


of  the  celebrated  tract,  with  the  Rev.  William  George  Ward, 
author  of  the  "  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church,"  Rev.  Frederick 
Oakley,  Rev.  Robert  A.  Coffin,  and  Rev.  Frederick  W.  Faber, 
authors  of  many  of  the  Lives  of  the  English  Saints,  and  the  last 
a  most  beautiful  and  accomplished  poet,  were  received  into  the 
Catholic  Church.  Every  mail  brought  to  America  the  names  of 
new  converts  among  the  clergy,  and  lists  of  eminent  laymen 
who  followed  their  teachers.  In  this  wonderful  season  of  God's 
grace  and  mercy  in  England,  some  thousands  were  won  to  the 
faith.  As  the  Metropolitan  of  Halifax  well  observed,  "  Innu- 
merable souls,  which  had  long  flitted  over  the  deluge  of  unbelief, 
have  happily  returned  to  the  Ark  of  rest.  The  tempest-tost,  who 
were  '  carried  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,'  have  at  length 
found  the  divine  security  of  Peter's  bark.  Egypt  has  been  de- 
spoiled, and  the  People  of  God  are  enriched  with  the  most  valu- 
able treasures.  Their  great  champions  and  noblest  ornaments 
we  have  made  captives  of  faith,  and  docile  members  of  God's 
Holy  Church.  Their  most  learned  doctors,  with  all  the  edifying 
simplicity  of  little  children  in  Christ,  have  descended  from  their 
chairs,  and,  seated  at  His  feet,  have  begun  to  learn  the  very  rudi- 
ments of  the  science  of  salvation,  in  His  school  of  humility  and 
meekness.  And  these  marvellous  changes,  these  magnificent  in- 
tellectual triumphs,  have  been  achieved  by  sound  arguments  from 
reason  and  Scripture,  aided  by  divine  grace  ;  most  certainly  not 
by  bribes,  coercion,  or  any  species  of  physical  force.  And  it  is 
not  alone  the  poor,  the  lowly,  the  simple,  the  untitled  and  ob- 
scure :  no ;  but  the  rich,  the  noble,  the  learned,  the  pious,  the 
truly  honest,  have  been  converted;  men  whose  great  sacrifices 
are  the  surest  test  of  the  depth  of  their  convictions,  and  the  un- 
impeachable sincerity  of  their  motives."* 

With  the  progress   of  the  movement  in  England,  that  in 


*  Most  Rev.  William  Walsh,  Pastoral  for  Lent,  1851. 


iipl 


PMHiil 


430 


\^ 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


America  kept  pace.  The  Tractarian  ideas  found  a  warm  advo- 
cate in  the  Right  Rev.  L.  S.  Ives,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop 
of  North  Carolina,  and  more  moderate  ones  in  the  two  Onder- 
donks,  Bishops  respectively  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  but 
a  sturdy  opponent  in  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  of  Ohio,  who  published 
a  large  octavo  work  to  refute  the  Catholic  ideae  put  forward  by 
the  Oxford  divines.  They  found  a  defender  in  Van  Brugh  Liv- 
ingston, Esq.,  a  layman  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  who,  in  a  work 
on  Oxford  divinity,  maintained  their  opinions. 

In  all  parts  of  the  country,  clergjrmen  began  to  introduce  the 
Oxford  ideas ;  and  Bishop  Ives  founded  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  one  community  of  which  was  at  Valley  Crucis,  a 
wild  and  beautiful  spot  in  Ashe  county,  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  North  Carolina.  Here,  in  a  most  neglected  part  of  the  coun- 
try, a  few  clergymen  and  devout  laymen  observed  a  community 
life,  laboring  for  their  own  sanctification,  and,  by  preaching  and 
visits  to  the  surrounding  country,  endeavoring  to  contribute  to 
the  salvation  of  souls.  In  other  parts,  clergymen  exhorted  to 
confession,  and  endeavored  to  restore  the  sacrament  of  pen- 
ance. 

Such  matters  soon  excited  the  attention  of  the  Conventions, 
bodies  part  clerical,  part  lay,  which  rule  each  diocese  in  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States.  The  Bishop  of  Phila- 
delphia resigned;  his  brother  in  New  York  was  tried  on  a 
charge  of  improper  conduct,  and  suspended  from  the  adminis- 
tration of  his  diocese ;  the  Bishop  of  North  Carolina  was  ar- 
raigned, but  his  explanations  for  a  time  appeased  his  opponents, 
although  the  Brotherhood  was  dissolved.*  When,  however, 
Mr.  Newman  and  the  other  leaders  actually  abjured  Protestant- 
ism, their  example  was  followed  in  America ;  and  a  still  in- 
creasing number  of  Episcopal  clergymen  have  embraced  the 


*  Hecker,  Questions  of  the  Soul,  84. 


;■-  :■lc^:r^: 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


433 


faith :  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  the  Rev.  William  H. 
Hoyt,  a  deacon  in  Vermont ;  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Bay  ley,  now  Bishop 
of  Newark ;  Rev.  J.  M.  Forbes,  and  his  assistants,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
William  Everett,  Donald  McLeod,  and  Thomas  Preston ;  the  Rev. 
Ferdinand  White,  Rev.  J.  V.  Huntington,  Rev.  Mr.  Wadhams,  Rev. 
Mr.  Wheaton,  all  in  New  York ;  Rev.  Mr.  Major,  in  Philadelphia ; 
and  lastly,  Dr.  Ives,  the  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  whose  long 
hesitation  was  compensated  by  his  noble  submission,  by  which, 
as  he  justly  remarks,  he  "  abandoned  a  position  in  which  he  had 
acted  as  a  minister  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  and  as  a  bishop  of  the  same  for  more  than 
twenty,  and  sought  late  in  life  admission  as  a  layman  into  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  with  no  prospect  before  him,  but  sim- 
ply peace  of  conscience  and  the  salvation  of  his  soul."  The 
greatness  of  the  sacrifice  which  he  was  called  upon  to  make  may 
well  be  conceived,  and  we  cannot  but  bless  the  Almighty  for  the 
abundance  of  the  grace  which  enables  those  whom  He  called  to 
triumph  over  every  human  consi4eration,  and  early  prejudice. 
Dr.  Ives  was  received  into  the  Church  in  1853,  and  ^proceeding 
to  Rome,  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  Holy  Father  the  insignia  of  his 
episcopal  rank.  Such  was  the  Tractarian  movement,  vhich  has 
given  to  the  Church  in  England  and  America  some  of  the  no- 
ble^^  of  its  clergy,  and  most  talented  of  its  writers.*  We 
must,  however,  return  to  the  diocese  of  New  York,  and  its 
progress. 

The  German  Catholics  had  been  provided  for  by  the  zeal  of 
the  Redemptorists  ;  but  the  French  were  still  without  a  church 
for  their  special  use.  We  have  elsewhere  spoken  of  the  mis- 
sions preached  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  by  the  Bishop 
of  Nancy,  Monseigneur  de  Forbin  Janson.  His  first  apostolic 
labors  were  devoted  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  and  Canada ; 


*  Ives,  Trials  of  a  Mind,  l»j,  H. 


432 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


but  on  his  arrival  at  New  York,  in  Febraary,  1841,  the  prelate 
opened  a  spiritual  retreat  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  in  a  sermon 
on  the  10th  of  April,  proposed  to  the  French  residents  of  New 
York  the  erection  of  a  church,  to  be  attended  by  priests  of  their 
own  tongue.  "  In  this  great  city,"  said  he,  "  where  the  Irish  and 
German  Catholics  have  recoiled  from  no  sacrifice  to  have  their 
own  churches  and  priests,  how  is  it  that  *he  French,  so  famous 
for  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  alone  remain  indifferent  ?  They 
are  wanting  both  to  the  high  interest  of  their  salvation,  and  to 
those  of  their  nationality.  How,  in  fact,  can  this  nationality  be 
long  preserved  in  a  foreign  land,  without  the  powerful  bond  of 
religion  ?  This  church,"  he  concluded,  "  is  ardently  desired  by 
Bishop  Hughes,  the  holy  and  talented  administrator  of  the  dio- 
cese, for  which  he  expects  great  benefits  from  it.  What  a  pow- 
erful recommendation !" 

It  is  certain  that  at  this  time  a  part  of  the  French  residents 
of  New  York  lived  in  great  religious  indifference.  They  might, 
indeed,  have  fre,^<uented  the  various  Catholic  churches  which  the 
city  possessed,  but  the  dread  of  an  English  sermon  was  a  sufficient 
pretext  for  many  to  remain  away  from  the  offices  of  the  Church. 
There  exists  in  the  city  a  Protestant  church  founded  by  Hugue- 
not refugees  in  1*704,  nineteen  years  after  the  revocation  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes.  The  pastor  of  this  had  profited  by  the  apathy 
of  some  of  his  countrymen,  to  draw  them  to  his  church,  where 
they  were  charmed  to  hear  French  spoken.  He  performed  their 
marriages,  baptized  their  children,  so  that  ere  long  families  ori- 
ginally Catholic  became  inpf^nsibly  Protestant,  in  order  to  remaiii 
French.  It  was  therefore  nighly  necessary  to  give  a  church  to 
a  population  menaced  with  a  loss  of  faith.  The  manly  eloquence 
of  the  Bishop  of  Nancy  had  drawn  crowds  of  French  aroand 
his  pulpit ;  his  appeal  aroused  his  hearers,  and  the  next  day  a 
large  meeting  of  the  French  resolved  upon  the  erection  of  a 
church,  appointing  a  committee  to  receive  subscriptions.    The 


;7  Virf^^yswj  ir7-,v-^-5. 


Ti'T^'Vir-^mfr' 


■^.'.v;*!^,'^'' 


-:';j-p 


W 


IS  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


433 


committee  soon  purchased  the  site  of  the  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, a  Protestant  church  then  recently  destroyed  by  fire,  and 
on  the  11th  of  October,  1841,  the  Consul-general  of  France,  Mr. 
de  la  For6t,  laid  the  coiiier-stone. 

The  generous  Bishop  of  Nancy  did  more  than  support,  by  his 
eloquence,  the  work  which  he  b-^d  inspired :  he  lent  six  thou- 
sand dollars  to  aid  in  constructing  the  church,  and  subsequently 
bestowed  thp  principal  on  the  diocese.  The  Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith  has  several  times  made  important  do- 
nations, and  by  these  different  resources  the  French  church  was 
erected.  Since  1842,  the  Rev.  Annet  Lafont  has  been  the  zeal- 
ous pastor.  He  belongs  to  the  Institute  of  the  Fathers  of 
Mercy,  of  which  the  founder  in  France  was  Father  Rau- 
zan;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  church  will  still  be 
confided  to  some  zealous  congregation,  if  the  will  of  His 
Holiness  remove  Mr.  Lafont  from  the  theatre  of  his  labors. 
If  this  church  owes  much  to  the  Association  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Faith,  it  now  contributes  to  the  common  work  of  the  mis- 
sions, and  for  several  years  the  French  Catholics  have  responded 
to  the  appeals  of  the  American  bishops  in  favor  of  the  work. 
St.  Vincent's  Church  is  the  organ  of  communication  of  some  of 
the  other  churches  also ;  and  we  find  that  in  1855,  with  the 
churches  of  St.  Peter  and  the  Nativity,  it  remitted  over  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  to  the  General  Council  of  the  Association.*  In 
order  to  make  the  society  known,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lafont  delivers 
an  English  sermon  on  the  feast  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  which  is 
attended  by  thousands,  and  is  always  followed  by  the  formation 
of  new  decades.  Ere  long,  we  trust  that  none  of  the  churchtc 
in  the  large  cities  will  forbear  to  join  in  this  irovement,  and,  by 
forming  decades  of  members  of  the  Association,  help  to  swell 


♦  Proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul. 


19 


484 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


by  their  alms  a  treasury  which  has  given  so  much  to  the  atrug- 
gling  missions  of  the  United  States. 

This  is  not  the  only  work  in  which  the  French  Church  is  in- 
terested, and  which  has  been  established  by  the  zeal  of  its  pastor. 
To  liim  New  York  is  indebted  for  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  whom  he  introduced  to  direct  his  male  paT-ish  school, 
and  who  have  since  extended  so  rapidly.  The  church  has  also  a 
free  school,  where  eighty  girls  receive  an  excellent  education, 
and  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Association  annually  raises  the  funds 
necessary  for  its  suppbrt.  Like  the  similar  association  ir  the 
other  churches,  these  ladies  also  visit  the  sick  and  relieve  the 
poor ;  but  none  equals  in  zeal  and  extent  of  its  labors  that  under 
the  patronage  of  the  apostle  of  charity.  j 

The  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  is  also  the  rendezvous  of 
the  missionaries  and  sisters  of  various  orders  arriving  from  France, 
invited  by  our  bishops,  and  who  are  overjoyed  to  find  a  priest  of 
their  own  land  to  guide  and  direct  them  in  a  country  where  all  is 
new  and  strange.  Father  Lafont  receives  his  fellow-missionaries 
with  the  most  cordial  hospitality,  and  takes  every  pains  to  serve 
them ;  but  his  rectory  is  more  confined  than  his  generosity,  and 
this  leads  us  to  remark,  that,  considering  the  numbers  of  priests 
and  sisters  who  arrive  at  New  York  from  Ireland,  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy,  on  their  way  to  various  parts  of  Canada  and 
the  United  States,  one  of  the  greatest  wants  is  a  good  hotel  kept 
by  a  Catholic,  where  French  and  German  should  be  spoken. 
Such  a  hotel,  approved  by  the  episcopacy  of  the  Uir'ted  States, 
might  welcome  these  pious  im:  migrants  on  their  arrival  iV  l  Eu- 
rope, pass  their  baggage  from  the  Custom-house,  give  them  infor- 
mation as  to  the  city  and  country,  and  put  them  on  their  route 
to  their  different  destinati'^ns.  In  this,  the  modesty  of  religious 
women  consecrated  to  God  would  be  spared  many  affronts ;  tlieir 
poverty,  heavy  expenses ;  their  confidence,  much  imposition.  As 
it  is,  these  good  sisters  are  often  abandoned  on  a  wharf,  amid  an 


■^  ■  "WT'T'  i-Mi-wir:)^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


435 


indifferent  or  scornful  crowd,  then  bewildered  by  the  vulgar  run- 
ners, who  seek  to  lead  them  to  low  houses,  or  to  sell  them  spu- 
rious tickets.  For  many,  the  first  hours  in  America  are  a  mar- 
tyrdom, such  as  they  had  never  painted  to  themselves  in  their 
most  fervent  contemplations. 

The  example  set  by  the  French  in  New  York  has  been  imita- 
ted in  other  parts  of  the  State  and  in  Vermont,  so  that  many  of 
the  cities  now  possess  churches,  where  the  Catholic  of  France 
may  hear  in  his  own  tongue  the  religious  instruction  to  which  he 
has  been  accustomed. 

The  Bishop  of  New  York,  having  accomplished  so  much  for 
the  well-being  of  his  diocese,  issued,  on  the  28th  of  July,  1842, 
a  circular  letter  convoking  a  diocesan  synod,  and  after  a  spiritual 
retreat  at  St.  John's  College,  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  New 
York  met  for  the  first  time  in  synod,  at  St.  Patrick's  L^atliedral, 
on  Sunday,  the  28th  of  August.  "  During  the  session,  twenty- 
three  decrees  were  put  forward  in  regard  to  various  matters  of 
discipline,  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments ;  many  prac- 
tices, such  as  the  baptism  of  infants  in  private  houses,  and  others 
of  a  similar  nature,  which  had  been  permitted  on  account  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  timep  ere  entirely  forbidden.  The  most  strict 
and  salutary  regulations  were  made  in  regard  to  secret  societies, 
and  the  manner  of  holding  and  administering  ecclesiastical  prop- 
erty." At  the  close  of  the  synod,  the  bishop,  in  a  pastoral  let- 
ter, communicated  to  the  people  the  result  of  their  deliberations 
and  enforced  the  regulations.  Following  this  up,  he  subsequently 
issued  a  series  of  "Rules  for  the  Administration  of  Churches  with- 
out Trustees,"  under  which  the  property  of  the  Church  in  the  dio- 
cese has  been  most  advantageously  managed,  notwithstanding  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  the  State  government  to  create  such  confu- 
sion as  would  lead  to  its  being  sacrificed.* 


*  Bishop  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  116-18. 


w 


436 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  extent  of  the  diocese  made  it  almost  impossible  ''or  the 
bishop  to  giv€^  his  superintendence  to  all  the  rising  churches  and 
institutions.  He  solicited  a  coadjutor,  and  the  Rev.  John  McClos- 
key,  who  had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  the  first  President  of  St. 
''  jhn's  College,  and  was  at  the  time  Pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  Church, 
was,  in  1844,  appointed  Bishop  of  Axiern,  and  Ci^adjutor  of  New 
York.  Two  other  of  the  clergy  of  New  York  were  at  the  same 
time  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity — the  Rev.  William  Quarter, 
long  Pastor  of  St.  Mary's,  as  Bishop  of  Chicago,  and  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Byrne,  Pastor  of  St.  Andrew's,  as  Bishop  of  Little  Rock. 
The  three  prelates  were  consecrated  on  the  10th  of  March,  1844,- 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  assisted  by  the  Bishops  of 
Boston  and  Richmond.  Bishop  McCloskey  at  once  entered  on 
his  duties,  and  joined  with  his  diocesan  in  all  his  plans  for  the 
good'  of  the  faithful.  The  eminent  prelate  himself  was  at  this 
time  assailed  by  all  the  fanaticism  which  the  periodical  anti- 
Catholic  fever  could  evoke ;  but  while  all  was  in  desolation  at 
Philadelphia,  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  in  a  letter  to  the  Mayor 
**  On  the  Tuoral  causes  which  had  produced  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
times,"  set  the  Catholic  body,  and  himself  as  their  pastor,  so  truly 
and  fairly  before  the  public,  that  all  unanimously  condemned  their 
assailants.  A  striking  proof  of  the  respect  entertained  for  the  up- 
rightness and  ability  of  the  illustrious  Archbishop  of  New  York  is 
found  in  the  fact,  that  when  the  war  with  Mexico  began  to  be 
imminent,  the  Cabinet  at  Washington  actually  solicited  him  to 
accept  the  embassy  to  Mexico,  which  the  duties  of  his  diocese, 
and  a  feeling  that  the  exigency  of  the  case  did  not  call  him  to 
public  life,  compelled  him  to  decline.  Yet,  had  he  been  sent, 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  his  character  and  position 
would  have  enabled  him  so  to  arrange  existing  difficulties  as  to 
save  both  countries  from  a  desolating  war.  No  aspirant  to  po- 
litical honors,  he  would  have  been  but  too  happy  to  sacrifice 
private  convenience  to  the  public  good ;  and  so  far  was  he  from 


,i 

• 

IN  THE 

UNITED  STATES. 

437 

seeking, 

that  he  declined  c 

I  high  position,  for  which  he  deemed 

80  many  better  fitted  than  himself.* 

The  interest  which  Catholicity  takes  in  the  country,  and  its  at- 
tachment to  it,  is  evinced  in  its  many  benevolent  institutions ; 
and  to  refute  the  calumnies  of  its  accusers,  the  bishop  added  one 
more  to  the  many  with  which  he  ':ad  endowed  his  diocese.  In 
December,  1845,  he  proceeded  to  Europe,  to  procure,  if  possible, 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools, 
and  Sisters  of  Mercy.  In  both  his  applications  he  was  success- 
ful, and  returning  in  the  spring,  prepared  a  house  for  the  Sisters, 
who  arrived  on  the  15th  of  May,  1846.  The  object  for  which, 
especially,  the  devoted  pastor  wished  to  secure  them,  was  to  es- 
tablish a  house  in  which  young  Catholic  women,  when  out  of 
employment,  might  find  a  temporary  refuge,  where  their  inno- 
cence would  be  out  of  danger.  The  Church  had  constantly  to 
mourn  over  the  fall  of  many  who,  in  these  moments,  were  drawn 
to  places  where,  losing  virtue,  they  entered  a  headlong  course  of 
misery.  The  House  of  Protection  has  been  of  incalculable  ser- 
vice, and  furnishes  not  only  a  shelter  to  innocence,  but  enables 
families  to  obtain  excellent  servants;  for  during  their  stay,  the 
Sisters  instruct  them  in  the  various  departments  for  which  they 
are  competent.  Nor  is  this  the  only  work  of  these  good  reli- 
gious :  they  conduct  a  poor  school  for  girls,  visit  the  poor  and 
sick,  and  regularly  attend  at  the  New  York  City  Prison,  the  no- 
torious Tombs,  where  they  instruct  the  unfortunate  women  de- 
tained there,  and  use  every  endeavor  to  draw  them  to  a  life  of 
virtue.  Criminals  condemned  to  death  are  also  objects  of  their 
peculiar  care,  and  that  care  has  been  rewarded  by  most  extraor- 
dinary and  consoling  conversions.  The  community  of  Sisters  of 
Mercy  has  extended  to  other  cities,  as  we  have  before  stated.f 


*  Maury,  Statesmen  of  America,  243.. 

t  Villanis,  Cenni   Istorici   del   Pi^greao  del  Cattolicismo    negli   Stati 


Uniti,  89. 


438 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  arrived  in  October,  but 
as  affairs  were  not  satisfactorily  arranged,  their  establishment  was 
for  a  time  abandoned.  ' 

In  seeking  to  recall  the  Society  of  Jesus  to  New  York,  the 
bishop  wished  especially  to  confide  to  their  care  the  College  of 
St.  John,  which  he  had  so  firmly  established,  and  which  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  incorporated  on  the  10th  of  April,  1846, 
chiefly  through  the  exertion  of  Hon.  George  Folsom,  a  gentleman 
of  literary  acquirements,  who,  though  elected  by  the  Anti-Catho- 
lic, would  not  stoop  to  any  bigoted  harassing  of  the  Catholics, 
such  as  has  disgraced  Massachusetts  with  regard  to  the  College 
of  the  Holy  Cross. 

The  Jesuits  of  the  Province  of  Paris,  who  had,  in  June,  1881, 
begun  a  mission  of  their  order  in  the  diocese  of  Bardstown,  at 
the  instance  of  the  sainted  Bishop  Flaget,  for  many  years 
directed  St.  Mary's  College,  in  Kentucky,  and  began  a  college 
and  church  in  Louisville.*  Difficulties,  however,  compelled  them 
to  withdnvw  from  the  diocese;  and  as,  in  1842,  other  Fathers  of 
their  province,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Father  Chazelle,  the  Su- 
perior of  the  mission  in  Kentucky,  had  founded  a  house  in  Mon- 
treal, and  subsequently  others  in  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  those  of 
Kentucky  sought  to  approach  these,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
application  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  removed  to  the 
diocese  of  New  York,  and  assumed  the  charge  of  the  College  of 
St.  John.  Father  Chazelle,  the  Superior  since  the  foundation  of 
the  mission,  died  at  Green  Bay  in  1845,  while  visiting  the  West- 
ern missions,  and  the  Rev.  Clement  Boulanger  was  appointed 
Superior,  and  remained  such  till  the  year  1866. 

The  direction  of  the  college  and  of  the  seminary,  which  was 
confided  to  their  care,  did  not  satisfy  the  zeal  of  the  Fathers : 
they  sought  to  establish  a  church  and  college  in  the  city  itself; 

*  Bishop  Spalding,  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,  270,  801. 


'   V 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


489 


and  in  184*7,  Father  John  Larkin  having  acquired  a  church  for- 
merly belonging  to  a  Protestant  congregation,  opened  it  under 
the  title  of  the  Most  Holy  Name  of  Jesus,  and  established  in 
connection  with  it  an  academy,  the  nucleus  of  a  future  college. 
Scarcely,  however,  had  the  whole  been  successfully  organized, 
when  a  conflagration,  the  result  of  an  accident,  laid  the  building 
in  ashes.  The  Fathers  immediately  transferred  their  academy 
to  the  basement  of  St.  James  Church,  and  subsequently  to  a 
house  in  the  Third  Arenue ;  but  having,  in  1860,  under  Father 
John  Ryan,  purchased  a  site  on  Fifteenth-street,  they  began  the 
erection  of  a  college,  and  with  it  of  the  new  Church  of  St 
Francis  Xavier.*  The  college  was  completed  in  the  summer 
of  1860,  and  the  Fathers  entered  it  with  their  pupils  in  September. 
Its  plan  of  study  is  the  same  as  that  at  St.  John's,  embracing  a 
full  college  course,  with  the  usual  preparatory  classes ;  and  its 
pupils  are  usually  about  two  hundred  in  number. 

Besides  these  two  houses,  the  Fathers  have  in  the  State  a 
church  at  West  Troy,  and  another  at  Buffalo,  in  all  of  which 
they  labor  in  the  various  objects  of  their  institute.  This  mission 
numbers  in  the  various  dioceses  of  New  York  and  Canada  thirty- 
six  Fathers  and  twenty  scholastics. 

While  the  Bishop  of  New  York  was  thus  increasing  the 
means  of  saving  souls,  he  was  almost  deprived  of  the  oldest  re- 
ligious body  laboring  among  his  flock.  The  Sisters  of  Charity 
at  Emmetsburg  had  long  opposed  the  employment  of  members  of 
their  order  in  male  orphan  asylums,  and  finally  ordered  the  Sisters  at 
New  York  to  resign  the  care  of  those  which  they  had  so  long  direct- 
ed. In  consequence  of  representations  made,  the  Very  Rev.  Superior 
of  the  Sisters  addressed  a  circular  to  those  in  New  Yorlc,  author- 
izing all  who  chose,  to  remain,  and  organize  as  a  separate  body. 


*  Bishop  Bayley,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  the  Island  of  New 
York,  p.  128. 


440 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Of  the  fifty  Sisters  at  that  time  in  the  diocese,  thirty-one  remain- 
ed; and  on  the  8th  of  December,  1846,  the  feast  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  Right  Rev.  Bisliop 
Hughes  constituted  the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  this  diocese  a  local 
community,  under  the  title  of  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Vincent 
of  Paul — the  Sisters  adhering  to  the  original  constitutions,  rules, 
dress,  and  customs  of  the  order,  as  founded  by  Mother  Seton. 
Since  the  Sisters  of  Emmetsburg  have  adopted  the  French  dress 
and  rules,  those  of  New  York  now  represent  the  Society  as 
founded  by  Mother  Seton.  To  add  to  their  consolation,  the 
Holy  Father  has  approved  their  organization,  and  granted  them 
all  the  faculties  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  those  at  Emmets- 
burg. 

The  mother-house  of  this  body  was  fixed  at  Mount  St.  Vin- 
cent, a  delightful  spot  near  Harlem,  where  the  Sisters  speedily 
opened  an  academy,  which  has  proved  most  beneficial  to  the 
city,  by  the  excellent  education  which  it  affords.  They  soon  after 
(in  1849)  established  in  the  cfty  itself  St.  Vincent's  Hospital,  which 
in  one  year  accommodated  nearly  a  thousand  patients.  Be- 
sides these  institutions,  they  direct  six  orphan  asylums,  and  a 
great  number  of  free  schools.  The  missionary  establishments  in 
the  States  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  dependent  on  Mount 
St.  Vincent  number  twelve ;  besides  which,  there  is  one  in  the 
province  of  Nova  Scotia.* 

Such  was  the  state  of  Catholicity  when,  in  1847,  the  Holy 
See,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  prelate,  divided  his  extensive  dio- 
cese, and  committed  the  See  of  Albany  to  his  able  coadjutor. 
Bishop  McCloskey,  and  appointing  to  the  new  See  of  Buff'alo  the 
Rev.  John  Timon,  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions,  who  was 
consecrated  on  the  I7th  of  October,  1847,  in  the  Cathedral 


*  Heroines  of  Charity  (American  ed.),  p.  220.     Villanis,  Cenni  Istoricl 
del  Progreso  del  Cattolicismo  negli  Stati  Uniti,  p.  40. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


441 


i 


Church  of  St.  Patrick.  By  this  division  of  the  State,  the  Bishop 
of  New  York  retained  as  his  diocese  the  city  of  New  York,  with 
all  the  counties  south  of  the  forty-recond  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude, and  the  portion  of  New  Jerso}'  previously  dependent  on  his 
See.  While  the  newly  appointed  prelates  proceeded  to  organize 
the  dioceses  to  which  they  had  been  called,  he  devoted  himself 
with  greater  zeal  than  ever  to  the  improvement  of  the  less  exten- 
sive district  confided  to  his  care. 

We  have  seen  how  earnestly  he  had  endeavored  to  plant 
in  his  diocese  the  Brothers  of  the  Christiun  Schools,  and  how 
unsuccessful  his  effort  proved.  Scarcely,  however,  had  the  di- 
vision of  the  diocese  been  eflfeci'd,  wh(  ■.  he  w}  consoled  by 
seeing  them  permanently  introduced  by  the  zp-iI  ^nd  persever- 
ance of  the  Rev.  Annet  Lafont,  who,  overcoming  the  cSstacles 
previously  raised,  establislu  d  this  excell  ;ib  order  firmly  at  New 
York.  In  1848  four  Brothers  commenced  a  house  near  the 
Church  of  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  in  Canal-street,  where  they  had 
charge  of  three  classes  and  an  attendance  of  two  hundred  pupils. 
So  successfully  did  the  Brothers  conduct  this  school  that  its 
numbers  soon  augmented,  and  in  spite  of  their  scanty  accommo- 
dations they  were  obliged  to  yield  to  the  general  wish,  and 
opened  a  select  boarding-school.  Other  churches  solicited  mem- 
bers to  direct  their  parish-schools,  and  they  soon  had  under  their 
charge  those  of  the  Cathedriu  rvd  of  St.  Mary's,  St.  Stephen's, 
St.  Joseph's,  and  of  St.  Francis  Xavicr's,  and  even  of  some  in 
Brooklyn.  Anxious  to  place  them  on  a  firm  footing,  the  Most 
Reverend  Archbishop  encouraged  them  to  open  an  academy 
near  the  city,  to  be  in  a  manner  the  mother-house.  The  Acad- 
emy of  the  Holy  Infancy,  near  Manhattan ville,  put  in  operation 
in  1853,  owes  its  existence  to  his  devotedness,  and  crowns  the 
labors  of  the  order.  Here  young  lads,  not  intended  for  college, 
are  trained  to  virtue  and  the  ordinary  branches  of  an  English 
course — the  necessity  of  such  an  institution  being  a  great  want 

19* 


U2 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


near  &  large  commercial  city,  where  many  parents  seek  to  fit 
their  sons  for  commercial  and  not  for  professional  pursuits. 
The  Brothers  also  direct  a  select  academy  in  the  city,  and  in 
all  their  establishments  count  nearly  two  thousand  pupils — the 
number  of  Brothers  being  thirty-three.* 

From  the  commencement  of  his  administration  the  zealous 
bishop  had  constantly  multiplied  the  number  of  churches  around 
him,  and  freeing  the  older  from  debt,  enabled  them  to  erect 
school-houses  and  meet  other  parochial  wants.  In  1850  the  city 
o^  New  York  alone  contained  nineteen  churches,  and  the  rest  of 
the  diocese  forty-seven,  being  twenty  more  than  the  whole  State 
contained  at  the  time  of  his  appointment.  So  important  had 
New  York  become  that  the  Holy  Father,  by  his  brief  of  October 
3d,  1850,  erected  it  into  an  archiepiscopal  See,  with  the  Sees  of 
Boston,  Hartford,  Albany,  and  Buffalo  as  suffragans.  The  Most 
Reverend  Archbishop  soon  after  proceeded  to  Rome  and  received 
the  pallium  from  the  hands  of  the  Holy  Father.f 

In  a  short  time  a  new  division  was  proposed,  to  lighten  still 
more  the  burden  attached  to  the  See  of  New  York.  Part  of 
New  Jersey  depended  on  it  and  part  on  the  See  of  Philadelphia. 
The  Holy  See  deemed  it  now  for  the  interest  of  religion  to  unite 
the  whole  State  of  New  Jersey  under  a  bishop  whose  See  was 
fixed  at  Newark,  and  appointed  as  the  first  bishop,  the  Rev.  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  then  secretary  of  the  archbishop.  The  city  of 
Brooklyn,  which  had  become  one  of  the  largest  in  America,  was 
also  made  a  See,  and  conferred  on  the  Very  Rev.  John  Loughlin, 
r'car-general  of  the  diocese.  The  two  prelates  were  consecrated 
in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  with  the  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand, 
Pishop-elect  of  Burlington,  by  the  Most  Rev.  Cajetan  Bedini,  pro- 
nuncio  of  His  Holiness,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1863. 


*  Sketch  of  the  Christian  Brothers  in  Catholic  Herald,  January  12,  1856. 
U.  S.  Catholic  Almanac,  1848-1856. 
t  Baylay,  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  p.  127. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


443 


L2,  1856. 


As  these  Sees  were  also  in  the  province  of  New  York,  these 
prelates  attended  in  the  ensuing  year  the  first  Provincial  Council 
of  New  York,  which  was  opened  on  Sunday,  the  1st  of  October, 
1854,  and  closed  on  the  following  Sunday.  The  Fathers  of  the 
Council  were  the  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Archbishop  of  New 
York,  presiding ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  M'Closkey,  Bishop  of  Albany ; 
the  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Bishop  of  Boston ;  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  Timon,  Bishop  of  BuflFalo ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly, 
Bishop  of  Hartford;  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Loughlin,  Bishop  of 
Brooklyn ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  James  R.  Bayley,  Bishop  of  Newark ; 
and  Rt.  Rev.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  Bishop  ot  Burlington.  Six 
decrees  were  passed,  expressing  their  devotion  to  the  Holy  See, 
confirming  and  renewing  the  decrees  of  the  Councils  of  Balti- 
more. Besides  these  they  made  new  and  stringent  regulations 
as  to  church  debts,  urged  on  all  the  clergy  the  importance  of  the 
education  of  the  younger  portion  of  their  flocks,  and  regulated 
the  exercise  of  the  ministry  by  clergy  in  other  dioceses  than 
those  for  which  they  had  obtained  faculties.* 

The  meeting  of  the  prelates,  moreover,  enabled  them  to  de- 
cide on  many  points  of  discipline  of  which  the  enforcement  had 
been  delayed,  and  it  was  among  other  things  resolved  to  enforce 
the  publication  of  banns,  and  to  use  every  effort  to  establish  the 
Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  in  their  respective 
dioceses.  The  pastoral  letters  issued  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Council  on  the  8th  of  October,  announced  this  determination, 
and  after  reviewing  the  position  in  which  Catholics  were  daily 
assailed  with  charges  of  unfaithfulness  to  their  country,  urged 
them  to  forbearance  and  obedience  to  the  laws.  "  Should  any 
portion  of  the  community  assail  you,  as  if  you  were  unworthy  to 
be  members  of  this  free  and  enlightened  republican  government, 
let  your  refutation  of  their  calumnies  be  less  in  writings  and  in 


'M 


•  Concilium  Neo  Eboracense  Primum,  p.  20. 


444 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


words  than  in  deeds  and  actions.  Your  first  d'ucy  is  supreme 
loyalty  to  God  and  your  holy  faith.  Your  second — subordinate, 
but  in  its  own  sphere  equally  supreme — loyalty  to  your  country, 
in  all  her  vicissitudes  of  prosperity  or  adversity,  if  God  should  so 
permit  her  to  be  tried.  Next  to  your  country,  in  this  secondary 
order,  your  families,  your  kindred,  your  neighbors,  your  friends 
and  enemies,  your  countrymen  and  all  mankind."  This  letter 
also  urged  on  all  the  necessity  of  a  proper  and  Catholic  educa- 
tion of  the  young,  and  wai'ned  them  against  the  idea  so  insidi- 
ously kept  up  by  the  enemies  of  Catholicity,  that  every  edition  of 
paper  which  circulated  among  Catholics  was  an  organ  for  which 
the  Church  or  its  prelates  were  responsible. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  were  approved  by  the  Holy  See  on 
the  9th  of  July,  1855,  and  the  Holy  Father,  in  his  letter  to  the 
prelates  of  the  province,  commended  their  zeal,  and  urged  them 
to  unite  in  an  endeavor  to  establish  an  American  college  or  ec- 
clesiastical seminary  at  Rome.  "  By  its  means,"  says  the  Holy 
Father,  "  young  men  chosen  by  you,  and  sent  for  the  hope  of  re- 
ligion to  this  city,  will  grow  liko  Louder  plants  in  a  nursery,  and 
here  imbued  in  piety  and  learning,  will  draw  uncorrupted  doc- 
trine from  its  very  source ;  and  learning  the  rites  and  sacred 
ceremonies  from  the  custom  and  manners  of  that  Church  which 
is  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all,  r.nd  formed  to  the  best  disci- 
pline, may  on  their  return  to  their  native  land  discharge  with 
success  the  duties  of  pastors,  preachers,  and  teachers,  edify  by  an 
ex  mplary  life,  instruct  the  ignorant,  recall  the  erring  to  tlie 
paths  of  truth  and  justice,  and  by  the  aid  of  solid  learning,  re- 
fute the  fallacies  and  silence  the  madness  of  designing  men." 

The  wish  of  the  Holy  Father  found  an  echo  in  the  hearts  of 
the  American  Catholics,  and  one  gentleman — the  late  Nicholas 
Devereux,  of  Utica — proposed  that  a  hundred  of  the  more 
wealthy  Catholics  should,  by  each  subscribing  a  thousand  dol- 
lars, raise  a  fund  to  begin  the  college.    The  others  will  doubtless 


.r  If /-•'■:  ^ 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


445 


rts  of 
tholas 
I  more 
dol- 
Ibtless 


scon  present  themselves ;  if  not,  a  general  collection  among  the 
Catholics  will  easily  give  the  necessary  means  to  give  America 
its  representative  college  at  Rome  beside  those  of  England,  Ire- 
land, France,  and  Germany. 

Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Provincial  Council,  the  Most 
Reverend  Archbishop  resolved  to  visit  Rome  in  order  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion ;  and  with  the  Archbishops  of  New  Orleans  and  Baltimore, 
and  the  Bishops  of  Pittsburg,  Buffalo,  and  Philadelphia,  he  had 
the  consolation  of  taking  part  in  the  solemnities  of  the  auspicious 
day. 

During  his  absence  the  enemies  of  Catholicity,  whom  a  period 
of  fanaticism  had  enabled  to  obtain  an  influential  position  in  the 
Le2^slature  of  the  State,  on  a  petition  of  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis 
Church,  Buffalo,  without  examination  into  its  truth,  without  any 
discussion  of  the  question  by  committees,  but  exulting  in  a  pre- 
text which  enabled  them  to  hide  their  desire  of  overthrowing 
Catholicity  under  the  mask  of  zeal  for  the  public  good,  pagsed 
a  law  concerning  church  property  in  open  violation  of  common 
sense,  common  honesty,  and  constitutional  rights.  Assuming 
that  the  majority  of  the  Legislature  are  the  owners  of  all  real 
and  personal  property  in  the  State,  and  that  the  actual  owners 
are  merely  tenants  at  their  pleasure,  they  enact^ed  that  all  prop- 
erty held  by  any  person  in  any  ecclesiastical  office  or  orders 
should,  on  his  death,  vest  in  the  occupants  or  congregation  using 
it,  if  they  were  incorporated  or  would  incorporate,  and  in  default, 
in  the  people  of  the  State.  Another  clause  provided  that  no 
deed  of  property  +o  be  used  for  divine  worship  should  be  legal 
or  have  any  force  unless  made  to  a  corporation.  By  these  ab- 
surd enactments  no  individual  can  purchase  a  lot  for  a  chapel, 
and  though  he  pay  the  value  the  deed  is  inoperative ;  and  if, 
prior  to  the  passing  of  the  act,  any  individual  owned  property 
used  for  divine  worship,  it  would,  on  his  death,  pass  not  to  his 


446 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


heirs,  but  to  any  set  of  men  to  whom  he  might  have  let  it,  or 
who  had  even  intruded  into  it.* 

The  absurdity  of  the  whole  aflfair  was,  however,  but  a  cloak  to 
the  real  desire  of  seizing  the  property  of  the  Catholics  or  ham- 
pering them  in  its  use.  ' 

Scarcely  had  the  act  passed  the  Senate  when  the  Most  Rev- 
erend Archbishop  returned  from  Europe,  and  having  read  the 
strange  documents,  including  petition,  act,  and  the  speeches 
made  in  regard  to  it,  deemed  it  due  to  himself  to  protest  against 
the  false  statements  in  regard  to  himself  on  which  it  was  based. 
These  were  chiefly  an  assertion  in  the  petition  of  the  trustees  of 
St.  Louis  Church  that  he  had  attempted  to  compel  them  to 
convey  the  title  of  their  church  property  to  him,  and  an  assertion 
made  by  Erastus  Brooks,  editor  of  the  .New  York  Express,  and 
member  of  the  Senate,  that  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  owned 
property  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  an  amount  which  he  sup- 
posed not  much  short  of  five  millions  of  dollars.  The  plan  of 
the  schemers  was  evident ;  they  wished  to  represent  the  Cath- 
olic prelates  as  grasping  at  all  property,  and  as  already  owners 
of  immense  amounts. 

The  archbishop  at  once  came  forward  and  so  completely  re- 
futed the  trustees  of  St.  Louis  that  they  admitted  that  he  never 
had  demanded  the  title  of  their  property.  Mr.  Brooks  attempted 
to  show  that  his  assenion  was  well  founded,  and  in  a  long  series 
of  letters,  full  of  abuse  and  old  records,  attempted  to  make  good 
his  case ;  but  the  archbishop  followed  him,  step  by  step,  and  so 
completely  exposed  the  unjust"  means  used  to  pass  the  act,  and 
the  intrinsic  usurpations  of  the  statute  itself,  as  to  destroy  all  the 
advantage  which  the  enemies  c^  Catholicity  wished  to  obtain. 
In  the  letter  closing  the  controversy  he  says:  "This  is,  I  think, 


*  See  this  ridiculous  law  in  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  for  1856. 
oh.  880. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


447 


the  first  statute  passed  in  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  since  the 
Revolution,  which  has  for  its  object  to  abridge  the  religious  and 
encroach  on  the  civil  rights  of  the  members  of  one  specitic  reli- 
gious denomination.  Hitherto,  when  any  denomination  of 
Christians  in  the  State  desired  the  modification  of  it^  laws  afiect- 
ing  church  property,  the  Legislature  waited  for  their  petitions  to 
that  effect,  took  the  same  into  consideration,  and  when  there 
was  no  insuperable  objection,  modified  the  laws  so  as  to  accom- 
modate them  to  the  requirements  of  the  particular  sect  ov  de- 
nomination by  whom  the  petition  had  been  presented.  Thus 
the  law  of  1784,  though  still  on  the  statute  book,  has  become 
practically  antiquated  and  obsolete.  From  its  odious  and  often 
impracticable  requirements,  the  Episcopalians,  the  Presbyterians, 
the  Methodists,  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the  Quakers,  and 
perhaps  others  besides,  have  at  various  times  solicited  exemption 
at  the  hands  of  the  Legislature,  and  obtained  special  enactments 
more  in  accordance  with  their  faith  and  discipline  respectively. 
Now  this  antiquated  law  is  the  one  which  is  revived,  reinvigor- 
ated,  strengthened  by  provisions  for  contingent  confiscation  of 
church  property,  and  forced  upon  the  Catholics  of  the  State  of 
New  York  as  suflSciently  good  for  them.  They  had  not  peti- 
tioned for  it ;  they  did  not  desire  it ;  they  will  not  have  it,  if 
they  can  lawfully  dispense  with  its  enactments." 

As  this  attempt  on  the  rights  of  Catholics,  and  the  discussion 
which  grew  out  of  it,  attracted  grc-xt  attention,  the  archbishop 
publislied  the  controversy,  with  an  introduction,*in  which  he  re- 
viewed the  whole  history  of  trusteeism  in  the  United  States,  and 
especially  the  evils  which  it  had  produced  in  St.  Peter's  Church, 
the  cradle  of  Catholicity  in  New  York.  The  faithful  have  in- 
deed been  so  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  miserie  -  that  system, 
that  not  a  single  congregation  in  any  part  of  the  State  showed 
the  least  approval  of  the  conduct  of  the  trustees  of  .1  Louis 
Church,  but  all  regarded  the  attack  as  an  insidious  attempt  to 


^ 


448 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


defraud  them  of  the  shrines  which  with  so  many  sacrifices  they 
had  reared  to  the  service  of  Almighty  God.* 

While  a  great  wrong  was  thus  rneuitated,  the  archbishop  was 
consoled  by  the  arrival  of  two  now  cc'onies  oi  religious  women 
to  aid  in  the  great  cause  of  education.  These  wen)  th^  Ursulines 
and  Sisters  of  the  Holy  C'voss.  llie  fo/ioer  iv'ert-,  av-  we  have 
seen,  no  strangers  in  the  d"*^cese,  ti*eir  order  having  been  the 
first  to  establish  a  covjrent  in  l^ew  York — that,  however,  had 
long  been  closed  when  this  new  colon}  of  the  Paugl  ters  of  St. 
Angela  Merici  Appeared.  It  coi  .sisted  of  elever;  leligious,  under 
the  ruidance  of  Mother  Mafjda'en  Stehlen,  ho,  on  the  16th  of 
Ma}.  1855,  founded  at  East  Mornsania,  in  the  county  of  West- 
(1  ( fiter,  tilt,  eleventh  house  of  their  order  which  has  existed  in 
flie  Uuited  States.  These  Ursulines  came  from  a  convent  at  St. 
Louis,  hi  the  State  of  Missouri,  founded  in  the  year  1848,  through 
the  zeal  and  exertions  of  Mother  Stehlen  and  two  other  Sisters, 
who,  with  the  permission  of  their  diocesan,  left  the  Ursuline  con- 
vent at  Oedensburg,  in  Hungary,  to  labor  in  America.  Joined 
by  other  Gfirman  Sisters  from  the  convent  of  Landshut,  in  Ba- 
varia, the  house  prospered  rapidly,  and  in  1855  was  enabled  to 
send  a  colony  to  New  York,  where,  as  elsewhere,  they  devote 
themselves  to  the  education  of  children  of  their  own  sex.f 

The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  had  a  special  object  in  view. 
The  orphan  asylums  at  New  York  had  been  for  years  under  the 
direction  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity^  who  brought  up  the  children 
with  a  zeal  and  care  beyond  all  praise ;  but  on  aiT-fving  at  a  cer- 
tain age  the  children  were  bound  out  as  apprentices,  and  many, 
thus  thrown  upon  an  unfeeling  world,  were  lost  to  religion  and 


*  Brooksiana ;  o.  the  controversy  betwfso.n  Senator  Brooks  and  Archbishop 
Hughes,  grown  out  of  the  recently  en-  '  Church  Property  Bill ;  with  au 
introduction  by  the  Mo3t  Eeverend  A  bop  of  New  York.    New  Yoik. 

■f-    -•  9tropolitan  Mtgazine,  iv.  V/t. 


t 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


449 


tbey 

,p  was 
/omen 
mlines 
I  have 
sen  the 
Br,  had 
\  of  St. 
I,  under 
16th  of 
f  West- 
isted  in 
it  at  St. 
through 
Sisters, 
ine  con- 
Joined 

in  Ba- 
bied to 

devote 

|in  view. 

jider  the 
jhildren 
it  a  cer- 

|d  many, 

lion  and 


[•chbishcp 

with  au 

lew  York, 


t 


society.  The  object  of  a  new  establishment  was  to  teach  these 
girls  trades  in  a  house  under  the  direction  of  some  pious  Sisters, 
aad  thus  enable  them  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  attain  an  age  less 
liable  to  be  deceived  before  entering  on  the  career  of  life.  The 
Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  chosen  for  this  work  were  founded  in 
France  by  the  Rev.  Basil  Mary  A.nthony  Moreau,  in  the  year  1839, 
and  are  consecrated  to  the  Sorrowful  and  Immaculate  Heart  of 
Mary.  They  unite  teaching  with  the  various  works  of  mercy  as 
the  objects  of  their  institute. 

The  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  were  introduced  into  the  United 
States  in  connection  with  the  Priests  of  the  Holy  Cross  about 
1842,  and  have  an  extensive  establishment  at  South  Bend,  Indi- 
ana, where  there  is  a  novitiate  of  the  order.  The  community  in 
Indiana  numbers  thirty -three  professed  Sisters,  thirty-eight  novi- 
ces, and  twenty-five  postulants.  Among  their  fields  of  labor 
there  which  they  have  faithfully  cultivated  is  the  manual-labor 
schools,  and  these  they  have  successfully  introduced  at  New 
York,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  they  instruct  the  female  orphans 
in  the  various  trades.* 

Thus  terminates  our  rapid  sketch  of  the  diocese  of  New  York, 
where  Catholicity  has  made  such  progress  under  the  episcopacy 
of  the  Most  Reverend  John  Hughes.  Of  him  it  has  been  well 
remarked,  "  that  a  man  who  has  obtained  so  great  a  mastery 
ovpr  his  fellow-man  must  have  greatness  in  him."  No  prelate  of 
the  Catholic  Church  has  ever  attained  in  the  United  States  a 
position  such  as  his :  with  a  singular  talent  for  unravelling  at  a 
glance  the  intrigues  and  movements  of  political  men,  and  of  fore- 
seeing the  results  of  public  measures  and  agitations,  his  writings 
ar<^  evei  dmely,  profound,  and  convincing.  Whenever  a  move- 
mou;:  attects  the  Church,  his  voice  is  listened  to  with  attention 


*  De  Courcy,  Les  Se.vantes  de  Dieu  eu  Canada,  p.  108.  Memoir  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Cointet.  A  full  account  of  the  order  will  be  given  hereafter,  in 
'>ur  sketch  of  Indiana. 


^.■J'iisJf'  •*■' " 


/ 


460 


THE  OATHOLIO  OHUROH 


by  all,  and  »he  press  from  one  extremity  of  the  country  to  the 
other  reproduces  and  comments  his  words  as  those  of  a  public 
document.  No  man  accordingly  has  more  bitter  opponents,  or 
more  enthusiastic  adherents :  his  name  is  in  the  mouths  oi  all, 
and  all  view  in  him  the  uncompromising  advocate  and  expound- 
er of  Catholic  views. 

Nor  has  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  attained  this  eminence 
by  deserting,  like  the  courtly  prelates  of  other  days,  his  episcopal 
duties  for  the  arena  of  secular  affairs.  His  voice  is  never  raised 
but  in  matters  connected  with  the  Church,  and  Catholicity  in 
New  York  is  the  proof  of  his  devotedness  as  a  pastor.  Overcom- 
ing by  his  talents  the  dissensions  and  parties  that  existed  among 
the  clergy  and  laity,  he  gave  unity  and  power  to  the  Catholic 
body,  who  instead  of  wasting  their  energies  and  means,  no  less 
than  piety  and  devotion,  in  strife  and  rebellion,  have  since  sought 
to  enrich  the  State  with  churches,  colleges,  academies,  schools 
for  rich  and  poor, — with  asylums  where  every  human  ill  is  cared 
for, — cloisters  and  monastic  halls  where  a  higher  ascetic  feeling 
is  cultivated  or  welcomed.    These  are  his  eulogy. 


..».iW» 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


461 


the 
ublio 
ts,  or 
)i  all, 
ound- 

inence 
scopal 
raised 
city  in 
ercom- 
among 
Jatholic 
no  less 
I  sought 
sclioola 
is  cared 
feeling 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

DIOCESES    OF    ALBANY,  BUFFALO,  BROOKLYN,  AND    NEWABK. 

Dloceae  of  Albany— Early  Oatholto  affairs— Cbnrcb  and  Mission  of  the  Presentation  at 
Og<len8b':.g— St  Regis — Obaplains  at.  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point— Rev.  Mr.  de  !• 
^  Yalin'iere  and  his  church  on  Lake  Chainplain— Church  at  Albany — Early  pastors— 
Inoretse  of  Catholicity— Appointment  of  Rt  Rev.  John  MCloskoy  as  first  bishop— 
His  administration — Institutions— Religious  Orders— Jesuits— Ladiea  of  the  Sacred 
Heart— Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools. 

Diocese  of  Buflhlo — French  chaplains  at  Fort  Niagara— Early  Catholic  matters— Ap- 
pointment of  the  Rt  Rev.  John  Timon  as  bishop — ^The  Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  Fran- 
ciscans, Christian  Brothers,  and  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart — Sisters  of  Charity,  Sis- 
ters of  St  Joseph,  Sisters  of  St  Bridget  and  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity— State  of  the 
diocese. 

Diocese  of  Brooklyn — Catholicity  on  Long  Island— First  church  in  Brooklyn— Progress 
— Rt  Rev.  John  Loughlin  first  bishop — Visiiation  Nuns— Sisters  of  Charity— Sisters 
»>f  Mercy— Dominican  Sisters. 

Diocese  of  Newark — Catholicity  in  New  Jersey— Its  progii.^s — Appointment  of  Bt 
Rev.  Jamed  B.  Bayley,  first  1  .  .lop — Seton  Hall. 

In  our  opening  chapter  on  the  Church  in  the  State  we  dwelt 
at  some  length  on  the  early  Catholic  missions  among  the  Fire 
Nations  of  Iroquois,  an  J  of  their  close  in  consequence  of  political 
schemes  and  intrigues. 

The  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  IV 13,  by  acknowledging  the  author- 
ity of  England  over  the  Five  Iroquois  Nations,  had  forced  the 
missionaries  to  abandon  the  Iroquois  to  *^"i^  new  master. 
Nothing  but  a  war  could  again  open  to  rei\t;j  jl  the  way  to  the 
cantons.  In  1Y45  the  Abbe  Francis  Picquet  accompanied  his 
flock — the  Indians  of  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains — in  the 
expedition  a^jainst  Fort  Edward.  During  the  continuation  of 
hostilities  he  had  occasion  to  see  the  New  York  Iroquois,  and 
found  them  disposed  to  embrace  Catholicity ;  but  as  he  could  no* 
•^V'iu  think  of  attempting  a  mission  in  the  Indian  towns  in  the 


452 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


interior  of  New  York,  where  the  English  would  not  have  toler- 
ateri  his  presence,  the  Abb6  Picquet  resolved  to  found  a  Reduc- 
tion r  •  r  the  embouchure  of  Lake  Ontario  into  the  St.  Lawrence, 
ill  cclMi  L  attract  to  that  spot  the  well  disposed  among  the  In- 
dian.^ of  the  League.  His  project  was  approved  by  the  Governor 
of  Canada,  and  in  the  month  of  May,  1748,  he  set  out  to  choose 
a  site,  and  decided  on  a  beautiful  port  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oswe- 
gatchie,  where  the  .•'*'  '^f  Ogdensburg  now  stands.  With  the 
help  of  his  French  and  Indians,  the  missionary  erected  a  store- 
house and  palisade  fort,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Pre- 
sentation, in  honor  of  the  holiday  which  is  the  patronal  feast  of 
the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  to  which  he  belonged.  In  the 
month  of  October,  1749,  a  war  party  of  Mohawks  set  fire  to  the 
Presentation,  and  occasioned  the  Abb6  Picquet  a  loss  of  thirty 
thousand  livres.  Undiscouraged,  however,  he  at  great  expense 
repaired  the  loss,  and  having  begun  his  mission  with  six  Indian 
families,  he  had  the  consolation  of  counting,  in  1751,  four  hun- 
dred families,  comprising  three  thousand  souls,  and  c  nposed 
almost  entirely  of  Onondagas  and  Cayugas. 

The  success  of  Mr.  Picquet  silenced  the  envy  and  jealousy  in 
Canada  which  at  first  had  ridiculed  his  projects,  and  people  bj- 
gan  to  re'Jilizfc  the  religious  and  strategic  importance  of  this  post 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  province  of  New  York.  In  1762  the 
Bishop  of  Quebi  ,  Henry  Mary  du  Breuil  de  Pontbriand,  visited 
the  Presentation  mission,  and  after  spending  several  days  in  in- 
struciing  the  neophytes,  baptized  one  hundreJ  and  twenty,  and 
confinned  many.  This  was  doubtless  the  first  episcopal  act  per- 
formed by  a  Catholic  ^bishop  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  Ne^'  York.  On  this  occasion  the  ladies  of  Montreal 
embroiderer  th  mission  a  beautiful  banner,  still  preserved  at 
the  Lake  of  the  Two  Mountains.  The  Abbe  Picquet  organized 
a  civil  government,  by  appointing  a  council  of  twelve  chiefs^  who 
took  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  France.    He  also  visited  the  interior 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


458 


of  the  cantons,  and  was  everywhere  well  received  by  the  Indians. 
They  had  in  vain  awaited  the  missionaries  promised  by  the 
English,  and  as  their  chiefs  declarea  in  reply  to  the  reproaches 
of  the  English,  they  felt  the  necessity  of  Christianity,  and  were 
disposed  to  emigrate  in  a  body  to  the  St.  Lawrence  to  obtain  it. 
To  effect  this,  Mr.  Picquet  would  have  needed  other  priests  to 
aid  him,  skilful,  like  himself,  in  gaining  the  confidence  of  the 
Indians;  but  he  was  almost  alone,  and  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
whose  suppression  the  Catholic  sovereigns  of  Europe  were  de- 
manding, could  not  renew  their  efforts  of  the  previous  century. 
In  1*753,  Mr.  Picquet  went  to  France,  leaving  his  mission  to  the 
Rev.  Peter  de  la  Garde,  a  Sulpitian,  and  the  following  year  he 
returned  to  the  Presentation  with  two  priests.    But  the  war 
which  was  to  end  in  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  already  enkin- 
dled, and  instead  of  peacefully  continuing  amid  his  beloved  In- 
dians the  labors  of  the  apostolate,  he  had  to  accompany  numerous 
military  expeditions.    For  six  years  Mr.  Picquet  multiplied  his 
endeavors  to  draw  the  cantons  to  the  cause  of  France,  cement 
alliances  or  encourage  the  warriors.    So  great  was  his  influence 
over  the  tribes  that  the  Marquis  du  Quesne,  Governor  of  Canada, 
said  that  the  Abbe  Picquet  was  worth  more  than  ten  regiments, 
and  in  battle  the  mdians  always  believed  him  in  their  midst, 
even  when  he  was  actually  hundreds  of  miles  off.    But  all  the 
efforts  of  Canada  could  not  prevent  the  progress  of  the  English, 
whose  armies  invaded  that  colony  on  all  sides,  while  it  was  ac- 
tually abandoned  without  resources  by  tie  mother  countiy.     In 
IT 5 9  the  Rev.  Mr.  Picquet  had  been  forced  to  retire  from  the 
Presentation  and  settle  with  his  Indians  on  Grande   He   aux 
Galops,  in  the  midst  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  be  less  exposed  to 
the  English.     There  he  built  a  chapel,  and  on  the  2d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1769,  was  invited  to  bless  Fort  Levis,  which  the  French 
were  erecting  on  another  island  in  the  St.  Lawrence.    On  the 
25th  of  August,  1760,  this  fort  was  forced  to  surrender  to  the 


4M 


THE  OATHOLIO  Olf  :^BCE 


English  after  a  vigorous  defence,  directed  by  Captain  Pouchot, 
and  during  the  whole  siege  the  Abb6  de  la  Garde  remained  on 
the  island  to  take  care  of  the  wounded.*  In  the  month  of  May, 
in  the  same  year,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Picquet  bade  adieu  to  his  mission, 
in  conformity  with  the  advice  of  the  governor,  to  avoid  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  English,  and  he  descended' to  Louisiana  by 
the  lakes  and  the  Mississippi.  He  spent  nearly  two  years  at  New 
Orleans,  where  his  preaching  produced  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 
at  last  seeing  that  France  sacrificed  all  her  American  possessions, 
he  returned  to  his  native  country,  which  his  zeal  had  so  faithfully 
served  abroad  for  thirty  years.f 

On  the  peace,  the  Rev.  Mr.  de  la  Garde  obtained  permission  to 
resume  the  care  of  the  mission  of  the  Presentation,  but  the 
English  garrison  at  the  fort  ere  long  demoralized  the  natives ; 
and  after  a  few  years  the  more  religious  dispersed,  seeking,  after 
many  vicissitudes,  a  refuge  at  Canadasaga,  Caughnawaga,  or 
St.  Francis  Regis.  This  last-named  village,  situated  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  northeast  of  the  Presentation,  is  now  divided  by  the 
boundary  between  New  York  and  Canada,  and  is  thus  partly  in 
the  diocese  of  Albany.    It  was  founded  about  1760  by  the  Jesuit 

*  John  Peter  Besson  de  la  Garde,  born  in  France  about  1728,  remained  in 
Canada  after  the  conquest,  and  died  on  the  10th  of  April,  1792,  Curd  of  St. 
Genevieve. 

t  Lettres  Edifantes  et  Curieasen.  Mdmoire  sur  la  vie  de  M.  Picqnet,  mis- 
Bionnaire  au  Canada  par  M.  la  Lande  de  l^Acaddmie  des  Sciences.  Sliea's 
History  of  the  Catholic  Missions,  pp.  884-840.  Manuscripts  of  the  Hon.  I. 
Viger,  Com.  St.  Greg.  Francis  Picquet,  born  at  Bourg  en  Bresse,  on  the 
6th  of  Decem^jer,  1708,  entered  the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice  at  an  early 
age.  In  1788  he  solicited  and  obtained  permission  to  go  to  Canada,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  the  Iroquois  miMsions  with  equal  zeal  and  success.  When 
in  1758  he  came  to  France  to  interest  the  government  in  his  mission,  hie 
family  wished  to  detain  him  at  Bresse,  and,  on  his  refusal,  disinherited  him. 
On  his  return  to  Paris  in  1762,  he  received  testimonials  of  esteem  from  tho 
clergy  of  France  and  from  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  died  at  Verjoii  on  the 
15th  of  July,  1781.  The  astronomer,  La  Lande,  his  countryman,  who  wrote 
the  memoir  cited  above,  was  an  infidel  of  the  worst  stamp,  and  was  one  of 
the  authors  of  the  Diotionnaire  des  Athdes. 


Father  I 
from  Ca 
the  Prof 
death  in 
troubles, 
tho  Rev. 
them  till 
B.  Roupo, 
suspicion 
prisoner  b' 
8or,  the  Re 

as  to  be  t 
American 
Caughnawa 
nowned  as 
chisms  and 
»  all  the  ( 
grammars  w 
treasure  to  t 
Since  183 
^egis,  and  a 
State  of  New 
the  jurisdicti 
missionaries 
hundred  sou 
American  sid 
Catholic  Iroq 
fathers  of  the 
Date  territoria 
Americans  is 

^  *  The  Canadia 
term. 

t  See  sketch  ol 


IN  THB   UNITED  BTATIS. 


A^jii 


Father  Mary  Anthony  Gordon,  with  some  Iroqnois  families  lent 
from  Caughnawaga,  and  in  1806  it  received  the  refugees  from 
the  Presentation.  Father  Gordon  resided  at  St.  Kegia  till  his 
death  in  1777.  After  that,  in  consequence  of  the  war  and  its 
troubles,  the  Iroquois  had  no  permanent  pastor  till  1795,  when 
the  Rev.  Roderic  McDonnell,  a  zealous  Scotch  priest,  directed 
them  till  his  death  in  1806.  To  him  succeeded  the  Rev.  John 
B.  Roupe,  a  Sulpitian  of  Montreal,  who,  becoming  an  object  of 
suspicion  to  the  Americans  during  the  war  of  1812,  was  taken 
prisoner  by  their  troops,  in  an  attack  on  his  village.  His  succes- 
sor, the  Rev.  Joseph  Marcoux,  was  so  favorable  to  the  Americans 
as  to  be  termed  by  his  flock,  Ratsihenstatsi  Wastonronon,  the 
American  priest.*  He  was  subsequently  for  many  years  at 
Caughnawaga,  where  he  died  on  the  29th  of  May,  1855,  re- 
nowned as  a  philologist  and  a  devoted  missionary.  His  cate- 
chisms and  prayer-books  are  used,  by  the  direction  of  the  bishop, 
in  all  the  Catholic  Iroquois  missions,  and  his  dictionaries  and 
grammars  will  ever  remain  a  monument  to  his  learning  and  a 
treasure  to  the  missionaries.f 

Since  1832  the  Rev.  Francis  Marcoux  has  been  pastor  at  bt. 
Regis,  and  although  part  of  the  village  is,  as  we  have  said,  i:i  tln3 
State  of  New  York,  the  Bishop  of  Albany  leaves  the  vWp  undor 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  who  sends  >  .luad^nr- 
missionaries  there.  St.  Regis  contains  a  population  ot  e  •  »  i 
hundred  souls,  governed  on  the  Canadian  side  by  chiefs,  ^  ^.he 
American  side  by  trustees ;  and  they  form  the  only  remnant  of 
Catholic  Iroquois  in  the  State  of  New  Ycwk,  where  their  fore- 
fathers of  the  Five  Nations  were  once  so  powerful.  The  unfortu- 
nate territorial  division  of  their  village  between  the  English  and 
Americans  is  still,  for  the  Indians,  a  source  of  trouble  and  intes- 

*  The  Canadians  term  all  Americans  Boatonais,  and  the  Indians  adopt  the 
term, 
t  See  sketch  of  his  litis  and  labors  in  the  Metropolitan,  iii.  589. 


•i^li-^:' 


.&/ 

HmH 

456 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


tine  difficulty.  The  Protestant  sects,  taking  advantage  of  such  a 
situation,  have  made  great  eflforts  and  greater  outlays  to  pervert 
the  tribe,  and  imagined  that  they  had  succeeded  when  they  ob- 
tained, as  an  instrument  of  proselytism,  a  son  of  the  tribe,  whom 
they  have  made  an  Episcopal  .'ergyman.  The  Rev.  Eleazar 
Williams,  not  content  with  playing  'his  part,  vfished  to  ape  a 
still  higher  one;  and  since  1852  nothing  will  satisfy  his  vauity 
but  to  be  the  dauphin  of  France — Louis  XVII.,  son  of  the  victim 
of  the  French  Revolution.  Some  Protestant  clergyman,  it  would 
seem,  must  always  endorse  an  imposture  in  America,  whether  it 
be  Maria  Monk  or  Eleazar  Williams,  and  in  consequence,  the 
Rev.  John  H.  Hanson,  and  even  the  Rev.  F.  L.  Hawks,  lent  the 
pretender  the  aid  of  their  influence  and  personal  consideration. 
To  maintain  his  thesis,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hanson  published  a  volume 
of  five  hundred  pages,  besides  several  articles  in  a  periodical  ;* 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  a  man  of  sense  can  talk  so 
much  of  good  faith  in  a  work  where  he  tortures  historic  truth  at 
every  line.f 

After  having  frequently  sought  to  fathom  the  motives  which 


*'  The  Lost  Prince ;  facts  tending  to  prove  the  identity  of  Louis  XVII.  of 
France  and  the  Rev.  Eleazar  Williams.  By  John  H.  Hanson.  New  York, 
1854.    Putnam's  Monthly,  February  and  April,  1858,  and  February,  1854. 

t  At  the  first  attempt  to  impose  this  gross  fable  on  the  public,  the  present 
writer  refuted  it  step  by  step  in  the  New  York  papers.  This  opposition  did 
not  please  the  partisans  of  the  Lost  Prince,  for  Mr.  Hanson  had  gained  his 
hero  many  very  sincere  and  enthusiastic  friends.  The  author  of  the  book 
himself  came  to  see  us,  to  convert  us  to  his  ideas,  and  failing,  represented 
us  as  an  agent  of  the  Bishops  in  Canada,  the  emissary  of  all  the  Bourbons, 
paid  by  the  Catholics  and  royalists  to  discredit  the  American  Louis  XVII. 
Yet  we  produced  the  sworn  statement  of  Mary  Ann  Williams,  Eleazar's  mo- 
ther, who  in  1853  still  survived  at  St.  Regis,  though  more  than  eighty  years 
of  age,  and  who  solemnly  attested  that  Eleazar  was  her  son.  We  also  pub- 
lished certificates  of  the  principal  Iroquois  chiefs  at  Caughnawaga,  affirming 
that  Eleazar  was  born  in  their  village,  and  we  believe  that  we  did  something 
to  prevent  the  imposture  from  spreading.  He  btill  preserves  his  partisans, 
and  the  Church  to  which  he  belongs  is  not  ashamed  to  credit  this  ft.ntastic 
pretension  of  one  of  its  clergymen. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


457 


induced  Mr.  Hanson  and  his  colleagues  to  accredit  this  fable,  we 
find  only  one  plausible  explanation.  The  first  arti(5le  in  the  pe- 
riodical, "  Have  we  a  Bourbon  among  us  1"  was  thrown  before 
the  public  at  a  moment  when  the  Episcopalians  of  America  were 
filled  with  vexation  and  shame  at  the  striking  conversion  of  one 
of  their  bishops,  Dr.  Levi  S.  Ives.  It  was  necessary  to  divert 
attention  from  a  fact  so  fitted  to  inspire  reflections  and  seek  the 
truth  sincerely.  Curiosity  was  to  be  stimuiii,ied  by  leaving  a 
considerable  interval  between  the  articles,  and  Episcopalian  vanity 
to  be  flattered,  by  persuading  them  that  if  they  had  lost  a  bishop 
they  had  gained  i».  king.  In  fact,  they  succeeded  for  several 
months  in  engaging  the  popular  attention  with  the  imaginary 
adventures  of  the  Dauphin  of  France ;  but  it  would  seem  that 
the  instigators  of  the  movement  having  used  their  instrument, 
have  cast  it  aside,  leaving  Mr,  Williams  to  turn  to  account,  as 
best  he  may,  his  royal  origin.* 

Independently  of  the  missionaries  whom  France  sent  into  the 
interior  of  New  York  to  evangelize  the  Indians,  other  priests  took 
up  their  residence  in  the  fortified  post^s  where  the  French  had 
garrisons,  and  the  efforts  of  the  governox-s  of  New  York  failed  for 
eighty  years  before  the  perseverance  of  their  Canadian  neighbors. 
In  vuin  did  they  endeavor  to  drive  the  French  beyond  the  St. 


*  The  following  advertisem'^nt  appep.red  in  the  New  York  papers,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1854,  and  i»  a  sample  of  those  used  to  draw  a  crowd  around  his  pulpit. 
"The  Rev.  Eleazar  Williams,  said  to  be  the  long-lost  Dauphin  of  France, 
will  preach  an  interesting  sermon  to-morrow  evening  at  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Brooklyn,  and  a  collection  will  be  taken  up  to  build  a  church  for  the  St.  Ke- 
gis  Indians,  of  whom  he  is  the  spiritual  pastor.  The  Eev.  Mr.  Williams  is 
67  years  old,  and  claims  to  be  the  identical  Louis  XVII.  of  France.  This 
caniiOt  fail  to  make  his  sermon  interesting  to  the  people  of  Brooklyn."  This 
pious  call  is  a  series  of  voluntary  errors.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  is  not  pas- 
tor of  the  St.  Regis  Indians,  who  despise  him,  and  have  repeatedly  driven 
from  their  villag.^  a  man  who  seeks  to  lead  them  into  apostasy.  Repulsed 
by  the  Canadian  government,  which  told  him  that  the  St.  Regis  Indians  had 
a  Catholic  pastor,  Mr.  Williams  collects  funds  in  the  United  States  to  seduce 
Ills  countrymen. 

20 


458 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Lawrence;   they  succeeded  only  when  the  white  flag  of  the 
Bourbons  disappeared  in  Canada. 

In  1732  the  French  reared  a  fort,  towhi?h  they  gave  the 
name  of  St.  Frederic,  on  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Champlain, 
in  order  to  cover  Montreal  from  the  attacks  of  the  English.  This 
point  bore  the  name  of  Pointe  a  la  Chevulure,  which  the  English 
translated  Crown  Point.  The  Swedish  naturalist,  Kalm,  tells  us 
that  Fort  St.  Frederic  was  so  named  in  honor  of  M.  de  Maurepas, 
and  that  there  was  within  the  fort  a  well-built  church,  where  the 
soldiers  assembled  morning  and  evening  for  prayer.  "  The  French," 
he  adds,  "  give  much  more  time  in  their  colonies  to  prayer  and 
outward  worship  than  the  English  and  Dutch  settlers  in  the 
English  colonies."*  He  remarks,  too,  that  in  the  craft  in  which 
he  ascended  the  Hudson  the  hands  performed  no  devotions,  while 
in  the  French  sloop  that  took  him  down  Lake  Champlain  he  was 
edified  by  the  religious  conduct  of  the  crew,  especially  on  Sun- 
day.f 

Of  this  fort  the  names  of  the  chaplains  have  fortunately  come 
down  to  us,  and  among  them  is  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel,  fa- 
mous for  the  interesting  narrative  of  his  shipwreck,  whom  we 
shall  also  find  at  Niagara.^ 


*  Kalm,  Travels  in  North  America.  Translated  from  the  Swedish,  by  J. 
R.  Forster :  Warrington,  1770 ;  iii.  148.  The  travels  of  this  learned  natu- 
ralist are  very  interesting,  especially  as  regards  Canada.  He  speaks  well  of 
/eligion,  and  describes  judiciously  the  churches,  convents,  and  other  estab- 
lishments at  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Ho  was  much  pleased  with  the  Jesuits, 
with  whom  ho  frequently  dined,  and  among  whom  he  found,  as  he  avows, 
scientific  men  fully  equal  to  himself.  On  his  return  to  Sweden  he  was  made 
a  Lutheran  bishop, 
t  Kalm,  iii.  44. 

t  The  names  of  the  chaplains  at  Fort  St.  Frederic,  or  Beauharnuis,  as 
drawn  by  the  learned  Mr.  Jacques  Vigor,  of  Montreal,  from  the  register  still 
preserved  in  the  prothonotary's  office,  are- 
John  Baptist  Lajus,     1782-33.        Alexis  du  Buron,  1743-46. 
Peter  BaptitJt  Resche,  1738-84.        Bouaventure  Carpentier,  1747. 
Benardine  de  Cannes,  1784-3 j.        Hypolite  Collet,  1747-54. 
Emmaiiuel  Crespel,     1785-86.        Didacu.i  Cliche,               1754-58. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


459 


»f  the 

e  the 
iplain, 

This 
English 
ells  us 
urepas, 
ere  the 
rench," 
yer  and 

in  the 
a  -which 
18,  while 
1  he  was 
ou  SuD- 

}ly  come 
espel,  fa- 
horn  we 


lisli,  by  J. 
tned  natn- 
Iks  well  of 
Vher  estab- 
[le  Jesuits, 
Ihe  avow?, 
1  wft8  mode 


liarntvis,  as 
Igister  still 

(4^-46. 

I47. 

|47-54. 
I54-58. 


In  1755  the  French  built  a  fort  still  farther  towards  the  capital 
of  New  York,  at  Carillon,  now  Ticonderoga,  and  here  in  1757 
they  repulsed  the  army  of  General  Abercrombie.  This  was, 
however,  the  last  effort  of  their  power,  and  on  the  26th  of  July, 
1759,  Bourlamarque  had  to  evacuate  Ticonderoga  and  fall  back 
on  Canada.  Some  weeks  after  Montcalm  was  killed,  and  Quebec 
surrendered  to  England.  The  conquest  of  Canada  was  a  momen- 
tary triumph  for  Protestantism,  and- the  missionaries  disappeared 
from  the  State  of  New  York. 

When  the  American  army  under  Montgomery  entered  Canada, 
a  number  of  the  French  settlers  joined  their  standard,  and  were 
enrolled  in  Lieber's  and  Oliver's  companies,  as  we  have  stated 
when  speaking  of  the  political  mission  of  Father  Carroll.  Among 
the  young  men  of  Chambly,  Assumption,  and  Machiche  the 
Americans  also  found  some  sympathizers,  especially  in  the  Aca- 
dians.  It  is  easy  to  conceive  the  deep-seated  hatred  of  the 
English  government  which  they  nurtured  in  their  hearts.  Some 
had  been  treacherously  banished  from  Acadia  in  1755,  and  after 
an  exile  of  greater  or  less  duration,  had  joined  the  Canadians, 
fellow-countrymen  in  their  eyes ;  oth  j  had  fled  to  Canada  when 
the  English  began  the  work  of  pillage  and  devastation  in  Acadia. 
All  nourished  an  inveterate  hatred  against  their  oppressors,  and 
seconded  the  Americans  in  their  enterprise  to  wrest  the  St.  Law- 
rence from  Great  Britaio  On  the  evacuation  of  Canada  in  1776 
those  most  compromised  followed  the  retreating  army,  and  re- 
mained till  the  close  of  tlie  war  incorporated  in  various  regiments 
of  the  American  army.  Their  families  in  many  cases  were  also 
compelled  to  follow.     A  letter  of  General  Schuyler's,  dated  Au- 


PeUr  Verquaillie,        1736-41.        Anthony  Deperet,  1758-59. 

Daniel,  1741-43.        Felix  de  Bercy,  1760. 

The  last  entry  in  the  register,  a  baptism,  is  dated  Jan'y  12,  1760,  but  F.  do 
Berey  could  not  have  performed  it  at  Crown  Point,  which  the  Frond  had 
loft  in  the  summer  of  1759. 


460 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


gust  18,  1776,  contains  a  pressing  recommendation  in  favor  of 
the  Canadians  of  Livingston's,  Hazen's,  and  Duggan's  corps,  then 
at  Albany,  representing  them  as  in  the  greatest  destitution  and 
nakedness.  The  general  adds  that  many  Canadian  refugees  not 
in  the  army  were  in  the  same  state.*  The  latter  were  even  more 
miserable,  isolated  in  a  foreign  country,  whose  language  they 
knew  not,  and  whose  religion  they  did  not  share.  The  State  of 
New  York  at  last  took  pity  on  part  of  these  unfortunate  people, 
and  in  1789  and  1790  granted  lands  northwest  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Canadian  and  Acadian 
refugees.  These  lands  are  situated  in  the  present  county  of 
Clinton,  and  the  villages  of  Chazy  and  Corbeiiu  are  inhabited  in 
part  by  the  descendants  of  these  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 
Others  of  the  Canadians  settled  at  Fishkill,  where  we  have  seen 
the  apostolic  Father  Farmer  laboring  among  them;  others  at 
New  York,  and  more  at  Split  Rock  Bay,  on  Lake  Champlain. 

Both  those  at  New  York  and  those  at  Split  Rock  were  for  a 
time  attended  by  a  clergyman  whose  sufferings  and  eccentric  life 
require  some  details.  Peter  Huet  de  la  Valiniere,  born  at 
Nantes,  in  Brittany,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1732,  was  received 
into  the  Congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  came  to  Montreal  a 
sub-deacon  in  1755.  He  was  ordained  priest  at  Quebec  in  1757, 
and  was  one  of  the  twenty-eight  Sulpitians  who  submitted  to  be- 
come English  subjects  when  twelve  of  their  brethren  returned  to 
France.  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  does  not,  however,  seem  to  have 
succeeded  in  conceiving  a  very  lively  affection  for  the  new  mas- 
ters of  Canada,  and  in  1776,  while  pastor  at  the  Assumption,  fell 
under  the  suspicion  of  government  for  his  political  conduct  and 

*  American  Archives,  Series  V.  vol.  i.  1031.  The  same  collection,  S.  IV. 
vi.  923,  mentions  a  captain's  commission  given  by  Sullivan  to  Francis  Guillot, 
of  Eiviere  du  Loup ;  and  in  V.  i.  798,  names  the  Canadians,  Loseau,  Al- 
ler,  Basad6,  and  Menarece  (Menard),  as  officers  in  Col.  .James  Livingston's 
regiment.  Colonel  Fremont,  the  explorer,  is  the  son  of  a  Canadian  wh^  '^m- 
igrated  to  the  United  States  in  1790. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


461 


his  sympathy  for  the  army  of  the  United  States  then  in  the 
colony.*  Even  before  receiving  the  complaints  of  the  governor, 
the  bishop  had  several  times  removed  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  from 
one  point  to  another  away  from  the  frontiers,  but  as  that  clergy- 
man still  expressed  his  opinions  freely,  Sir  Francis  Haldeman 
seized  him  in  1780,  and  sent  him  in  a  frigate  to  England.  After 
remaining  eighteen  months  in  a  prison-ship  he  was  set  at  liberty, 
and  reached  Brittany  towards  the  close  of  1781.  Soon  dissatis- 
fied with  his  family,  and  meeting,  in  consequence  of  his  eccen- 
tricity, a  rather  cool  reception  from  the  Sulpitians  at  Paris,  he 
resolved  to  return  to  Canada,  and  set  sail  for  Martinique.  From 
this  point  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiniere  proceeded  to  St.  Domingo, 
and  had  scarcely  recovered  from  an  attack  of  the  yellow  fever 
when  he  took  passage  in  a  small  craft  for  Newburyport.  From 
this  Massachusetts  port  he  travelled  on  foot  to  Montreal,  where 
he  arrived  in  the  early  part  of  June,  1785.  He  remained  till 
August ;  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Montgolfier,  the  Superior  of  St.  Sul- 
pice,  wished  him  to  leave  the  country,  and  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
gave  him  very  favorable  letters  for  the  United  States.  Again  he 
set  out  on  foot  for  Baltimore,  and  having  been  received  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  asked  Father  Farmer  to  be  allowed  to  reside  at 
New  York  and  exercise  the  ministry  for  the  Canadians  and 
French.     Or  transmitting  this  request  to  Father  Carroll,  on  the 


*  On  the  12th  of  August,  1776,  M.  de  Montgolfier,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice, 
wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  :  "  As  to  the  clergy,  they  remain  in  the  best 
disposition  with  regard  to  submiesion  to  lawful  authority I  have  hith- 
erto observed  silence  as  to  the  three  missionaries  of  Sault  St.  Loui(»,  Lon- 
gueuil,  and  Assumption  (M.  de  la  Valiniere),  the  most  culpable  and  least  re- 
covered of  all.  I  should  like  him  got  out  of  the  country ;  he  is  very  volatile, 
and,  though  of  correct  life,  will  undoubtedly  give  us  some  trouble."  Ar- 
chives of  the  See  of  Quebec. 

The  missionary  at  Sault  St.  Louis  was  Father  Joseph  Huguet,  S.  J.,  who 
wns  stationed  there  from  1757,  till  his  death,  May  6,  1783.  The  government 
either  would  not  or  durst  not  remove  iiini.  The  Cure  of  Longuenil,  from 
17G8  to  Oct.  1,  1777,  was  the  Eev.  Claude  Carpentier,  a  secular  priest.  He 
was  removed,  in  1777,  to  Vercheres,  where  he  oied  in  1798. 


462 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


2*7 th  of  December,  1785,  Father  Farmer  adds :  "  I  have  no  doubt 
Mr.  de  la  Valiniere's  stay  among  these  poor  people,  and  his  dis- 
courses to  them,  will  revive  their  past  devotion.  My  answer  to 
him  was,  that  till  your  pleasure  be  known,  he  might  exercise  r  L 
New  York,  with  respect  to  the  Canadians  and  French  only,  those 
faculties  which  your  reverence  had  given  him.  To  this  answer  I 
was  moved  by  the  extreme  spiritual  necessity  of  these  poor  peo- 
ple. Another  motive  was  mentioned  by  himself,  and  it  is  that 
formerly,  in  Canada,  he  had  been  the  ordinary  pastor  of  those 
voluntary  exiles ;  and  may  we  not  add  to  these  motives  that  he 
was  our  fellow-missionary  in  America,  and  that  he  comes  with 
approbation  from  a  neighboring  bishopric  ?"* 

When  the  revolted  trustees  drove  leather  Whelan  from  New 
York  in  February,  1V86,  Mr.  de  la  Valiniere  received  powers  as 
parish  priest,  without  restriction  to  the  French  and  Canadians. 
But  the  incessant  troubles  of  the  congregation  induced  him  to 
abridge  his  stay ;  and  besides,  the  worthy  priest  had  too  restless 
a  mind  to  dwell  long  in  one  spot.  Accordingly,  towards  April, 
he  journeyed  off  to  Philadelphia,  then  made  his  way  as  a  pedes- 
trian to  Pittsburg,  and  descending  the  Ohio  in  a  batteau — not 
without  frequent  pursuits  from  the  Indians — he  went  and  offered 
himself  as  pastor  to  the  French  in  Illmois.  But  they  did  not 
accept  his  services ;  and  after  three  years'  strife,  of  which  we 
shall  speak  in  connection  with  that  part,  he  descended  to  New 
Orleans  by  the  Wabash  and  Ohio.  There,  after  narrowly  es- 
caping death  from  a  serious  disorder,  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiniere 
took  passage  on  a  vessel  for  Havana ;  thence  visited  successively 
Florida,  Charleston,  Stonington,  and  New  York,  and  in  the 
month  of  October,  1790,  he  greatly  astonished  his  old  associates 
of  St.  Sulpice  by  asking  hospitality  from  them  at  Montreal.  He 
wap  chartably  received;  but  he  was  entreated  to  make  his  stay 


* 


*  Campbell  iu  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.  146. 


IN  THE    UNITED  STATES. 


46a 


I 


as  short  as  poaaib'e,  as  they  did  not  wish  to  compromise  them- 
selves with  the  English  government.  Before  the  close  of  the 
mouth  he  left  Montreal,  to  take  up  his  abode  ov  the  banks  of 
Lake  Champlain,  near  Split  Rock  Bay,  where,  as  we  have  seen, 
some  of  the  Canadian  refugees  had  settled.  Here  Mr.  de  la 
Valiniere  built  a  chapel  and  house  for  himself,  and  of  his  own 
authority,  and,  without  jurisdiction,  formed  a  parish.  After 
three  years'  stay,  he  set  his  parishioners  so  much  against  him, 
that,  to  get  rid  of  their  pastor,  they  set  fire  to  his  church  and 
house.  He  then  returned  to  Canada,  where  the  Seminary  of 
Montreal  gave  him  an  annual  pension  of  twenty-five  pounds,  on 
condition  that  he  would  remain  quietly  in  the  parish  of  St.  Sul- 
pice.  He  lived  till  1806,  preserving  to  the  close  his  restless 
chr.racter  and  singular  devotions,  combined  with  an  exemplary 
r.Qsterity  of  life.  He  was  killed  at  Repentigny,  by  a  fall  from  a 
wagon,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1806.* 

Poetry,  as  he  understood  it,  was  his  great  consolation  in  his 
troubles;  and  in  1792,  while  residing  on  the  banks  of  Lake 
Champlain,  he  printed  at  Albany  a  poem  of  1644,  recounting 
his  adventures.  The  preface  is  to  the  air  of  the  Enfant  Prodigue^ 
and  the  twelve  chapters  that  follow  are  to  the  tune  of  the  air 
Folies  cfEspagne.  This  original  character  deserves  to  be  bet- 
ter known  in  America,  for  it  was  in  consequence  of  his  sympa- 
thy in  the  IJLited  States,  that  the  Abbe  de  la  Valiniere  was  sub- 
jected to  numberless  trials  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his 
]ife.f 

In  consequence  of  the  troubles  of  1838,  a  still  greater  Cana- 
dian emigration  to  New  York  and  Vermont  took  place  ;  and 
besides  these  political  causes,  there  is  periodically  the  seducing 

*  Biogrnphie  de  M.  de  la  Valiniere,  by  the  Very  Kev.  F.  X.  Noiseux,  for- 
mprly  Vicar-general  of  Quebec.  This  sketch  we  had  to  rectify  at  almost 
every  line,  by  documents  from  the  archives  of  the  See  of  Quebec. 

t  The  title  of  the  poem  is,  "  Vraie  histoire  ou  simple  precis  des  infor- 
tunes,  pour  ne  pas  dire  des  persecutions  qu'a  eoiiffert  et  souffre  encore  le 


mm 


464 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


reason  of  a  higher  price  of  labor  to  induce  the  people  of  Canada 
to  cross  the  frontier.  The  faith  of  these  poor  people,  and  es- 
pecially that  of  their  children,  runs  great  danger  anid  the 
Protestant  and  freethinking  population  of  the  United  States ; 
hence  we  cannot  be  surprised  to  find  the  Canadian  clergy  disap- 
prove, in  ge^  sral,  this  emigration  of  Catholics,  leaving  their  vil- 
lage churches  to  wander  at  hazard  in  search  of  material  goods, 
and  setting  the  wants  of  the  body  above  the  essential  interests 
of  their  souls.  The  parish  of  Corbeau,  inhabited  chiefly  by  easy 
Canadian  farmers,  has  had  for  the  last  twenty  years  a  church,  and 
pastor  who  speaks  French.  The  Canadiar.  population  is  about 
four  thousand  souls.  But  in  other  localities  the  landholders 
are  the  exception ;  and  the  general  condition  of  the  French 
Canadians  in  the  State  of  New  York  is  that  of  farm-hands,  or 
laborers  in  the  forges  and  furnaces  which  dot  the  little  rivers  in 
the  north  of  the  State.  For  the  last  two  years  a  French  priest 
has  resided  at  Keeseville ;  he  counts  three  thousand  Canadian 
Catholics  in  his  parish,  and  serves  also  Elizabeth  and  Westport, 
where  he  assembles  at  the  altar  three  hundred  of  the  faithful 
scattered  in  the  neighborhood.  At  Plattsburg  the  Oblates  have 
undertaken  to  build  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  the  census  made  by 
Father  Bernard  in  1853  gives  a  total  for  his  parish  of  six  hun- 
dred Canadian  families,  or  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty 


R6v.  Pierre  Huet  de  la  Vftlinidre,  mia  envers  par  lui-m^me  en  Juillet,  1792. 
A  Albany,  5mprim6  aux  depens  de  I'auteur." 

The  reader  will  see  that  the  versifier  must  have  borne  the  expense  of  the 
publication,  when  he  reads  such  couplets  as — 

"  La  Havane,  la  Florido  Espagnole,  '. 

Charlestown,  et  Stonington,  et  New  York, 
N'ont  nen  pour  moi  qui  me  paraisse  drflle. 
Je  pr^ffere  du  Canada  le  pore" 

In  1828,  the  house  which  he  occupied  at  St.  Sulpice  having  become  the 
Hotel  Robillard,  our  friend  Mr.  Jacques  Viger  stopping  there  one  niglit, 
found  the  woodwork  all  covered  with  little  medallions,  in  which  the  aged 
priest  had  written  verses  exhaling  his  griefs. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


465 


Bouls.  One  of  the  Oblfte  Fathe's  also  serves  Redwood,  where  he 
numD.  Tf.  four  hundred  Catholic  families.  In  the  city  of  Troy, 
one  ot  the  churches  is  reserved  for  the  Canadians.  At  Cape 
Vincent,  on  Lake  Ontario,  there  is  a  parish  made  up  chiefly  of 
the  descendants  of  French  colonists,  sent  thither  by  Mr.  Leray 
de  Chaumont,  who  h»d  '•'^nsiderable  property  there.* 

We  have  seen  that  the  clergy  of  France  and  Canada  have  gone 
in  search  of  those  emigrants  who  have  abandoned  the  neighbor- 
hood of  their  j  ari&ix  churches,  not  knowing  where  they  should 
find  a  priest  to  hear  tl  i  confession  of  their  faults  and  to  instruct 
their  children.  Still,  many  churches  and  missionaries  are  needed 
to  preserve  these  poor  people  from  losing  tbc?  faith;  and  most 
frequently  they  have  not  means  to  raise  a  chapel  and  support  a 
priest.  Not  very  cordially  viewed  by  the  Catholics  of  other  ori- 
gins, the  Canadians  retire  and  isolate  themselves ;  and  while  a 
priest  who  preaches  in  their  language,  and  specially  interests 
himself  in  them,  obtains  the  happiest  resuHs,  the  Irish  or  Amer- 
ican priest  does  not  inspire  a  confidence  which  he  does  not 
seek. 

We  need  not  wonder,  tl*'>n,  if  the  faith  has  lost  some  of  its 
children  among  the  desc  udants  of  the  Canadian  emigrants,  when 
they  are  deprived  of  all  religious  succor.  But  the  missionary 
who  settles  amid  these  families  easily  awakens  Catholic  senti- 
ments, unless  they  have  lost  the  French  language.  Unfortu- 
nately, sensible  losses  to  the  Church  result  from  the  necessity  in 
which  widows  with  families  are  of  placing  their  children  in 
American  houses,  where,  with  Engiist,  they  learn  all  t  >  preju- 
dices of  Protestantism  or  inf-'elity.     Mixed  marriages  are  another 


ti 


*  Bishop  Dubois  wrote  on  this  subjecfc  from  Rome,  on  the  16th  of  March, 
1830,  "  I  should  never  cease,  were  I  to  speak  of  all  the  hamlets  that  I  find 
abandoned  along  the  lakes  and  the  St.  Lawrence.  Half  tlia  population  of 
these  villages  are  Freni  ^  >  ■:•>  Canada,  who  have  come  and  settled  on  the 
American  side."    Annf.i.:»  u^  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  469. 

20* 


1  ".SI 

5       ''J 


I    "l'> 


468 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHUilCH 


source  of  apostasy,  especially  whe  e  f  iie  wife  is  a  Protestant.  The 
American  women,  having  more  superficial  education  than  the 
simple  Canadians,  puffed  up  with  their  little  learning,  and  fanati- 
cised  by  their  books  and  ministers,  are  untiring  in  their  eft'orts  to 
shake  the  faith  of  their  husbands,  and  gain  them  to  their  conve- 
nient and  not  troublesome  creed.  Finally,  the  public  schools  are 
a  great  danger ;  and  the  habitual  contact  ot  Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant children  cannot  but  be  injurious  to  the  former. 

We  have  dwelt  on  the  religious  wants  of  the  Canadian  popu- 
lation of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  order  to  attract  the  attention 
of  France  to  them,  and  preserve  them  from  heresy.  We  have 
said  it  :  these  emigrants  are  poor,  and  the  most  they  can  by  any 
effort  do,  is  to  rear  a  church  and  give  the  priest  a  scanty  support. 
Every  village  should,  moreover,  have  its  French  Catholic  school, 
confided  to  religious  congregations,  and  Canada  will  joyfully 
fuinish  colonies  of  its  educational  Sisterhoods  to  preserve  the 
faith  of  its  children.  The  admirable  Association  for  tbo  Propa- 
gation of  the  Faith  gives  much  to  the  different  dioceses  in  the 
United  States.  We  are  confident  that  it  will  take  an  interest  in 
founding  French  schools  among  the  descendants  of  the  French, 
where  language  is  a  safeguard  to  religion.  We  cannot  too 
strongly  recommend  this  Canadian  population  to  the  solicitude 
of  the  two  Councils  of  Paris  and  Lyons,  and  we  express  our 
earnest  wish  that  special  grants  of  theirs  will  enable  the  Cana- 
dians to  finish  their  churches  at  Plattsburg  and  Cape  Vincent; 
pay  the  most  pressing  debts  which  the  French  clergy  have  had 
to  contract ;  to  build  new  chapels  in  places  where  the  nucleus  of 
a  Catholic  population  already  exists ;  in  fine,  to  call  in  Sisters 
and  Brothers  to  instruct  the  children  of  poor  families  in  their 
religion  and  language.  It  is  doubtless  a  noble  work  to  call  to 
the  faith  a  nation  seated  in  the  shadow  of  death  ;  but  when 
thousands  of  Catholics  are  pastorless,  and  these  Catholics  are  the 
descendants  of  the  French,  the  task  of  preserving  them  from  the 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


467 


The 
n  the 
anati- 
>rts  to 
•onvo- 
)ls  are 
[  Prot- 

i  popvi- 
tentioii 
e  have 
by  any 
iupport. 
school, 
joyfully 
prve  the 
Propa- 
in  the 
ierest  in 
French, 
not  too 
ilicitude 
[ress  OUT 
le  Cana- 
incent; 
lave  had 
icleus  of 
Sisters 
in  their 
;o  call  to 
lut  when 
Is  are  the 
from  the 


seductions  of  error  especially  recommends  itself  to  the  generosity 
of  France. 

If  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  Lower  Canada  grieve  to  see  emi- 
gration tend  to  the  United  States,  when  it  might  find  resource? 
in  the  upper  par'        tb-  province  with  ut  diminishing  the  ri 
merical  strength  of         r  'city;  if  this  sentiment  has  been  ^ti 
petuateJ  since  th.  of  1775  to  draw  the  Canadians  to  the 

American  cause,  hi  ill  ishops  interest  then,  selves  in  the  fate 

of  their  children  whu  nave  forsaken  them ;  and  Monseigneur 
Bourget,  the  present  Bishop  of  Montreal,  was  long  Vicar-general 
of  the  diocese  of  New  York  for  the  Canadi  ms  in  the  north  of 
that  State.  He  has  frequently  administered  confirmation  at  Cor- 
beau  and  other  parishes  within  the  United  States,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  the  French  there  honor  the  arrival  of  the  prelate 
with  demonstrations  and  an  enthusiasm  which  astonish  American 
phlegm.  Ever  since  the  foundation  of  the  See  of  Baltimore  in 
1790,  the  Canadian  clergy  have  taken  a  lively  interest  in  the 
hopes  of  religion  in  the  United  States  ;  and  in  proof  of  the  as- 
sertion, we  are  happy  to  be  able  to  cite  the  following  letter,  ad- 
dressed to  Bishop  Carroll,  on  the  6th  of  December,  1791,  by  the 
Right  Rev.  John  Francis  Hubert.  It  will  prove  that  if,  in  1776, 
Father  Carroll  saw  the  clergy  of  Montreal  avoid  him,  it  was  only 
in  consequence  of  the  political  character  borne  by  the  zealous 
restorer  of  religion  in  Maryland  : 

"  I  profit  by  a  moment  of  repose  left  by  the  affairs  of  the  dio- 
cese, to  send  you  my  tardy,  but  at  the  same  time  most  sincere 
felicitations,  on  your  promotion  to  the  See  of  Baltimore.  God 
has  used  you,  Monseigneur,  to  give  birth  to  a  new  Church,  to  es- 
tablish in  North  America  a  second  diocese,  which  will,  I  hope, 
hereafter  constitute  a  considerable  portion  of  Christ's  kingdom 
on  earth.  You  surely  have  not  established  it  without  great  pain 
*  and  great  merit.  With  all  my  heart  I  pray  Divine  Providence 
to  reward  you,  and  I  thank  Him  for  having  given  my  diocese  tho 


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33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


468 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


•. 


advantage  of  having  another  Catholic  diocese  in  its  neighbor* 
hood. 

"  Letters  from  Paris  tell  me  that  you  had  a  design  of  estab- 
lishing a  seminary  in  your  episcopal  city,  and  that  Mr.  Nagot,  a 
priest  of  St.  Sulpice,  had  gone  thither  with  a  dozen  young  ec- 
clesiastics. You  could  not,  Monseigneur,  give  a  more  solid  base 
to  the  preservation  and  increase  of  true  faith  in  these  parts.  The 
particular  merit  of  that  director,  the  renown  of  the  house  to 
which  he  belongs,  are  so  many  arguments  that  prove  that  God, 
in  calling  you  to  the  episcopate,  has  given  you  the  necessary 
economy  and  wisdom  to  fill  it  with  success.  May  He  long  pre- 
serve a  life  which  must  be  infinitely  dear  to  the  glory  of  His 
name,  and  the  spiritual  good  of  your  diocesans."* 

At  the  National  Council  of  Baltimore  in  1852,  the  Right  Rev. 
Armand  de  Charbounel,  Bishop  of  Toronto,  bound  still  closer 
the  bonds  of  spiritual  brotherhood  between  the  hierarchy  of  the 
United  States  and  that  of  Canada,  by  coming  to  i>ake  a  seat  with 
the  Fathers  of  the  C&uncil,  and  share  in  their  deliberations. 
The  American  prelates  have  often  gone  to  represent  their  wants 
to  the  Catholic  population  of  New  France,  and  returned  with 
considerable  alms. 

The  Bishops  of  Burlington  and  Cleveland  have  recently  called 
to  their  dioceses  Canadian  Sisters,  whose  zeal  equals  their  piety. 
The  two  prelates  have  found  that  it  was  much  more  economical 
than  to  draw  religious  from  Europe ;  and  it  is  an  example  which 
others  of  their  venerable  brethren  would  imitate,  if  Canada  can 
deprive  herself  of  new  colonies,  in  her  numerous  and  varied  fami- 
ly of  handmaids  of  the  Lord. 

We  have  thus  dwelt  at  some  length  on  the  connection  of  the 
Canadian  Church  with  that  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  re- 


*  Archives  of  the  See  of  Quebec.  John  Francis  Hubert,  ninth  Bishop  of 
Quebec,  consecrated  Coadjutor  in  November,  1786,  died  in  October,  1797. 
He  had  been  misMonary  at  Detroit. 


■i  r 


if' 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


469 


bor- 

jtab- 
ot,  a 
5  ec- 
base 
The 
ise  to 
,  God, 
essary 
g  pro- 
of His 

it  Rev. 
[  closer 
of  the 
at  "with 
rations. 
X  -wants 
ed  with 

y  called 
ir  piety. 
»nomical 
which 
lada  can 
led  farai- 

In  of  the 
[v,  in  re- 

BiaViop  of 
aber,  1797. 


|e 


gard  both  to  the  early  labors  of  Canadian  missionaries  among 
the  Indian  tribes  and  of  the  Catholic  part  of  the  population  which 
is  of  Canadian  origin  and  still  looks  to  Canada  for  spiritual  sue- 
cor.  The  rise  of  Catholicity  among  the  people  of  New  York  in 
the  diocese  of  Albany  now  claims  our  attention. 

Under  the  Dutch  and  British  rule  we  find  no  trace  of  Catho- 
licity at  Albany  down  to  the  period  of  the  Revolution.  The 
Catholic  Highlanders  in  the  Mohawk  valley  seem  to  stand  alone, 
and  even  they  were  unattended  by  clergymen,  so  far  as  we  know. 
After  the  war,  however,  a  number  of  Catholics  were  to  be  found 
at  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  as  early  as  1*798  we  find  them 
erecting  a  church  in  which  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
faith  of  their  fathers.  Thomas  Barry  and  Louis  Le  Couteulx 
are  mentioned  as  founders,  and  their  names  are  connected  with 
early  Catholicity  in  other  parts.  A  notice  in  the  Albany  Gazette 
informs  us  that  the  contributions  for  its  erection  came  not  only 
from  the  Catholics  of  Albany  and  their  fellow-citizens,  but  from 
the  liberal  in  other  cities  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  It 
was  under  roof,  glazed,  and  floored  early  in  September,  and  we 
are  informed  by  the  papers  of  the  day  "  that  it  is  a  neat  building, 
and  will  be  an  ornament  to  the  city  and  a  lasting  blessing  to  all 
who  are  members  in  communion  of  that  church.'*  In  their  ap- 
peal to  the  Catholics  generally  for  means  to  complete  it,  the 
founders  say :  "  Such  of  our  Catholic  brethren  in  this  neighbor- 
hood as  have  riOt  already  contributed,  it  is  hoped  will  now  come 
forward  and  offer  their  mite  to  discharge  the  last  payment  of 
the  contract,  there  being  but  a  small  sum  in  hand  for  that  pur- 
pose. To  give  to  the  Church,  is  it  not  to  lend  to  the  Lord,  who 
will  richly  repay  the  liberal  giver  with  many  blessings  ?  Should 
not  all  the  members  unitedly  raise  their  voices  in  praise  to  God, 
who  has  cast  their  lot  in  this  good  land,  where  our  Church  is 
equally  protected  with  others,  and  where  we  all  so  bountifully 
partake  of  His  goodness  f    What  is  man  without  religion,  which 


a 


470 


THKXJATHOLIC  CHTTBCH 


teaches  us  the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbor,  and  to  be  in  charity 
with  all  mankind  ?    Surely  without  this  he  is  nothing."* 

As  appears  by  the  names  of  the  foundei's,  the  first  Catholics 
were  French  and  Irish,  and  among  the  former  we  may  mention 
Count  de  la  Tour  de  Fin  and  his  wife,  a  daughter  of  Count  Dil- 
lon, of  the  Irish  brigade,  who,  after  serving  in  Rochambeau's 
army  during  our  Revolution,  perished  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.f 

The  resident  clergyman  under  whose  impulse  this  church  rose 
seems  to  have  been  the  Rev.  John  Thayer,  of  Boston,  whose  con- 
version to  the  faith  was  one  of  the  earliest  triumphs  of  religion 
here.  His  stay  was,  however,  short,  and  in  the  following  year 
we  find  him  in  Kentucky,  and  in  1800  the  Rev.  Dr.  Matthew 
O'Brien  seems  to  have  been  stationed  there,  as  he  preached  the 
funeral  oration  on  Washington  in  the  church  in  the  month  of 
February,  and  officiated  there  later  in  the  year.J 

About  1807  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bushe  was  stationed  here,  and,  we 
believe,  died  on  the  mission ;  but  when  Father  Eohlmann,  as 
vicar-general,  was  charged  with  the  affairs  of  the  newly-formed 
diocese  of  New  York,  Albany  seems  to  have  been  without  a 
priest,  and  on  the  1st  of  May,  1811,  we  find  him  entreating  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  O.  Plessis,  Bishop  of  Quebec,  tc  d  missiona- 
ries into  the  State  of  New  York.§     Soon  after,  however,  the 

*  We  are  indebted  for  thene  extracts  to  E.  B.  O'Calla^han,  Esq.,  so  well 
known  for  his  historical  works.  As  he  infcrms  us,  the  comer-stone  of  the 
church  bears  the  following  inscription : 

(Skull.)  I.  H.  S.  (Cross-bones.) 

THOif  AS  Barry,         I  Founders. 
Louis  Lb  Coctettlx,  ) 

E.  C.  QuxN,  Master  Builder. 

A.  D.  1798. 

t  Watson,  Memoirs.    Memoirs  du  Due  de  la  Bochefducauld. 

i  Information  given  us  by  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan  and  C.  J.  Cannon,  Esq. 
8ee  Spaldiufir's  Sketched  of  Kentucky,  p.  78.  A  full  account  of  the  Kev.  Mr. 
Thayer  will  be  given  under  the  diocese  of  Boston. 

S  Archives  of  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  for  the  examination  of  which  we  are 
indebted  to  the  Kev.  J.  B.  Ferland. 


.i:. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


471 


irity 

lolica 
ntion 
tDil- 
)ea\i'8 
or.f 
h  rose 
ie  con- 
sligion 

g  yea^ 
atthew 

Led  the 

Lontli  of 

and,  vre 

lann,  as 
r-formed 

ithout  a 

iing  the 

lissiona- 

sver,  the 

iq.,  60  well 
)ae  of  the 


linnon,  Esq. 
le  Kev.  Mr. 

Ihioli  we  are 


Rev.  Mr.  McQuaid  was  stationed  there,  but  on  the  arrival  of 
Bishop  Connolly,  that  clergyman  resolved  to  return  to  Ireland, 
notwithstanding  the  urgent  appeals  of  the  newly-appointed 
bishop.  For  a  time  Albany  was  without  a  pastor,  but  the  good 
bishop  sent  up  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman,  little  as  he  could 
spare  him  from  New  York.  This  clergyman  not  only  served 
Albany,  but  extended  his  labors  to  the  Indians  at  St.  Regis,  visit- 
ing on  the  way  the  scattered  Catholics  in  various  parts,  saying 
Mass,  instructing,  and  baptizing. 

In  1822  the  Rev.  Michael  Carroll  was  pastor  of  Albany,  visit- 
ing also  Troy,  Lansingburg,  Johnstown,  and  Schenectady.  Since 
then  it  has  had  a  regular  succession  of  pastors,  many  of  them 
men  of  remarkable  devotedness  and  zeal.  Just  at  the  period  of 
Bishop  Dubois*  appointment,  the  Catholics  of  Albany  were  en- 
deavoring to  erect  a  new  and  larger  church,  but  met  with  such 
diflBculties  that  they  succeeded  in  completing  it  only  by  aid 
which  he  obtained  from  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith.*  As  his  clergy  increased,  he  p'  ^ced  pastors  in  the 
neighboring  cities,  and  the  Rev.  John  Shanahan  was  for  many 
years  the  devoted  pastor  of  Troy,  visiting  also  Lansingburg, 
where  a  number  of  Catholics  had  gathered. 

About  1830  the  Sisters  of  Charity  came  to  Albany,  and  as- 
sumed the  charge  of  the  orphan  asylum  and  schools,  which  they 
have  continued  to  direct  to  the  present  time. 

The  Catholics  in  this  diocese  are  more  widely  scattered  than 
in  that  of  New  York,  and  we  find  them  from  an  early  period 
gathering  at  certain  points,  of  which  we  shall  give  a  few  brief 
notices  before  commencing  an  account  of  the  labors  of  the  amia 
ble  prelate  who  fills  the  See  of  Albany. 

St.  James'  Church,  at  Carthage,  was  built  in  the  year  1819  by 
James  Leray,  Esq.,  a  Catholic  gentleman,  who  owned  a  large 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.  451. 


472 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


property  there,  to  which  he  drew  many  Catholic  settlers,  who, 
with  their  descendants,  still  occupy  the  spot,  directed  by  a  cler- 
gyman brought  up  in  their  midst.  Having  had  the  advantage 
of  living  together  under  the  shadow  of  the  Church,  they  are  as 
faithful  to  their  religion  as  though  they  lived  in  the  most  favored 
Catholic  country.  By  their  industry  most  are  now  easy  farmers, 
owning  the  greater  part  of  two  townships,  and  numbering  about 
ten  thousand.  Their  schools,  made  up  exclusively  of  Catholics, 
are  well  attended  and  well  conducted.* 

Utica  was  another  point  where  the  Catholics  centered  and 
have  increased  prosperously.  John  C.  Devereux,  and  his  wife's 
family,  the  Barrys,  from  Albany,  settled  here  about  1800,  and 
were  joined  a  few  years  later  by  Nicholas  Devereux,  ^  hose  recent 
loss  is  so  milch  deplored.  This  little  band  of  Catholics  seems  to 
have  been  first  visited  about  1813  or  1814  by  a  clergyman  from 
Albany,  probably  the  Rev.  Mr.  McQuaid,  and  he  certainly  visited 
them  occasionally  down  to  the  period  of  his  departure  for  Ire- 
land. On  Sundays  the  Catholics  generally  met  to  read  Mass 
prayers,  though  many  attended  Protestant  meetings.  At  last,  on 
the  10th  of  January,  1819,  after  hearing  Mass  celebrated  by  the 
Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman,  the  Catholics  prepared  to  incorporate 
themselves  according  to  law,  and  on  the  25th,  John  O'Connor, 
John  C.  Devereux  and  Nicholas  Devereux  of  Utica,  Morris  Hogan 
of  New  Hartford,  Oliver  "Weston,  Thomas  McCarthy,  and  James 
Lynch  of  Salina,  John  McGuire.of  Rochester,  and  Charles  Car- 
roll of  Genesee  River,  were  duly  elected  "  Trustees  of  the  First 
Catholic  Church  in  the  Western  District  of  New  York."  Pur- 
chasing three  lots  of  ground,  tbey  collected  means  and  erected  a 
church,  designed  in  very  good  taste,  which  cost  about  four  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  Devereux  were  the  chief  benefactors  of  it, 
contributing  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  amount,  and  many  Prot- 


*  InformatioD  from  Rev.  M.  E.  Clark. 


■•;■«  J 


IN  THB  UNITED    STATES. 


478 


d  and 
wife's 
lO,  and 
recent 
jema  to 
in  from 
r  visited 
for  Ire- 
Mass 
last,  on 
by  the 
uporate 
Connor, 
[sHogan 
^d  James 
rles  Car- 
bhe  First 
."    pur- 
jrected  a 
,ur  thon- 
►rs  of  iti 
my  Prot- 


estants contributing  liberally,  for  the  number  of  Catholics  was 
small. 

The  first  pastor  at  Utica  was  the  Rev.  John  Farnan,  who  vis- 
ited also  the  Catholics  of  Western  New  York,  and  even  beyond 
the  frontier  of  the  United  States.  St.  James',  at  Carthage,  was 
also  visited  by  him,  and  he  attended  the  various  stations  along 
the  Erie  Canal.  His  career  here  was  not  exemplary,  and  his 
faculties  were  withdrawn.  The  Rev.  Richard  Bulger,  a  holy  and 
apostoUc  man,  and  the  Rev.  John  Shanahan,  whom  we  have  seen 
laboring  at  Troy,  were  next  stationed  at  Utica,  where  the  latter 
is  still  remembered  for  his  zeal  and  disinterestedness.  A  number 
of  other  clergymen  followed,  all  for  brief  periods,  inasmuch  as 
here,  too,  trustees  claimed  to  hold  all,  and  frequently  deprived 
the  pastor  of  a  competent  support.  By  such  ill-judged  conduct 
they  deprived  the  Catholics  of  Utica  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cummings 
and  Rev.  James  B.  Cahill,  two  accomplished  clergymen,  who 
came  from  France  in  1830  in  consequence  of  the  revolution  of 
July,  which  raised  Louis  Philippe  to  the  throne.  The  Rev.  Wal- 
ter J.  Quarter,  afterwards  Administrator  and  Vicar-general  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago,  at  last  became  pastor,  and  first  gave  stability 
to  affairs  at  Utica;  yet  even  then  the  trustees  would  not  grant 
any  salary  to  his  assistant,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Beecham. 

In  1834  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  under  Sister  St.  Etienne  as 
Sister  Servant,  came  to  Utica  to  take  charge  of  an  asylum  and 
girls'  school,  erected  by  the  Messrs.  Devereux  at  an  expense  of 
nearly  ten  thousand  dollars.  They,  on  a  subsequent  occasion,  by 
a  liberal  yearly  contribution,  enabled  the  Sisters  to  remain  when 
want  of  support  was  compelling  them  also  to  retire. 

The  church  at  Utica  proving  too  small,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quarter, 
in  1835,  undertook  the  erection  of  a  new  one,  in  which  he  hap- 
pily succeeded.  Mass  being  sa!  1  in  the  new  edifice  for  the  first 
time  on  Christmas-day  in  the  following  year.  Among  the  cler- 
gymen who  were  from  time  to  time  assistants  of  Mr.  Quarter 


474 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


were  two  who  have  since  been  raised  to  the  episcopacy — the  Rt. 
Rev.  D.  W.  Bacon,  now  Bishop  of  Portland,  and  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  Loughlin,  now  Bishop  of  Brooklyn. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Martin,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers,  was  pas- 
tor from  1841  to  1845,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his  zealous 
efforts  to  put  down  intemperance,  and  for  an  earnest  protest 
against  the  intolerance  of  the  State  government,  which  forced  the 
employees  in  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  to  attend  Protestant 
worship.  By  this  time  many  of  the  stations  served  from  Utica 
had  become  parishes,  with  churches  and  pastors  of  their  own.* 
Rome,  visited  in  1836  by  the  Rev.  William  Beecham,  a  graduate 
of  Carlow  College,  had  by  1840  exchanged  the  cooper's  loft  for 
the  modest  church  of  St.  Peter's,  which  became  a  centre  from 
which  the  pastor  visited  a  district  of  a  hundred  miles  around 
him.  Churches  arose,  too,  at  Verona,  Oneida,  Florence,  Consta- 
bleville,  Waterville,  and  West  Utica,  so  that  Central  New  York 


^an  to  blossom  like  a  garden  with  the  flowers  of  Catholic  faith 
and  piety.f 

Salina,  now  a  part  of  Syracuse,  had  a  church  in  1829,  due  to 
the  exertions  of  James  Lynch,  Esq.,  and  Thomas  McCarthy,  Esq. 
It  was  occasionally  attended  from  Utica  till  1832,  when  the  Rev. 
Francis  O'Donoghue  was  appointed  the  first  resident  pastor. 
From  1839  it  has  been  the  field  of  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Michael 
Heas,  who  has  seen  many  others  grow  up  around  him.  The 
Catholics  of  Syracuse,  among  others,  purchased  a  lot  in  1842,  to 
which  they  removed  an  Episcopalian  church  similarly  purchased. 

By  this  time,  too,  Schenectady,  Sandy  Hill,  Keeseville,  Malone, 
Binghamton,  Little  Falls,  and  Saratoga  had  their  churches  and 
resident  pastors ;  and  so  extensive  had  become  the  followers  of 
Catholicity  in  that  part  of  the  State,  that  the  Holy  See  resolved 

*  Memoir  furnished  by  the  kindness  of  the  Rev.  F.  P.  MoFarland. 
t  Information  derived  from  the  Bev.  Wm.  Beecham,  the  pioneer  pastor 
of  Borne.  • 


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churches 

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and  66  orphai 


IN  'fHE   UNITED  STATES. 


476 


to  erect  that  portion  into  a  new  diocese,  the  See  of  which  shoula 
be  Albany.  The  diocese  is  bounded  on  the  north  and  east  by 
the  limits  of  the  State,  and  extends  westward  to  the  eastern 
limits  of  Cayuga,  Tompkins,  and  Tioga  counties,  and  southward 
to  the  forty-second  degree.  . 

The  Rt.  Rev.  John  McCloskey,  born  at  Brooklyn,  and  actually 
coadjutor  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  was  transferred  in  1847  to 
the  new  See  of  Albany,  which  he  has  ever  since  governed  with 
the  greatest  harmony  and  advantage  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
On  taking  possession  of  his  See,  Albany  contained  St.  Mary's, 
which  became  his  cathedral,  with  three  other  churches,  one  of 
them  exclusively  for  the  Germans.  The  oi-phan  asylum  of  St. 
Vincent  EadTrbm  about  1830  been  under  the  charge  of  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  from  Erametsburg,  who  also  directed  a  school  for 
girls.  The  remainder  of  his  diocese  contained  about  forty 
churches  and  less  than  that  number  of  clergymen.  The  zealous 
prelate  immediately  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  endowing  his 
diocese  with  all  that  the  wants  of  the  faithful  required.  This  task 
has  been  the  more  diflficult,  as  the  Catholics  are  scattered,  few  of 
them  wealthy,  and  prejudices  against  them  more  bitter  than  in 
parts  where  Catholics  and  Protestants  are  constantly  in  c  i  act 
with  each  other.  Under  his  impulse  Troy  founded  an  orpuan 
asylum  confided  to  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  in  1851  the  bishop 
had  ihe  happiness  of  securing  the  Brothers  of  the  Christian 
Schools,  who  opened  at  Troy  the  Academy  of  St.  Joseph,  and  at 
the  same  time  assumed  the  direction  of  a  second  orphan  asylun, 
intended  exclusively  for  boys.* 

The  Sisters  of  Charity,  thus  relieved  of  a  part  of  their  labors, 
sought  a  new  field  for  their  devotedness,  and  in  the  same  year 
opened  a  hospital,  which  has  been  of  signal  service  to  the  city, 


*  It  now  contains  850  boys  under  the  charge  of  the  ChriBtian  Brothers ; 
the  girls'  school,  under  the  charge  of  eight  Sisters  of  Charity,  has  850  girls 
and  56  orphans. 


476 


THE  OATHOLIO  CHUBOH 


no  less  than  seven  hundred  and  eighty-nine  patients  having  been 
received  into  it  in  one  year. 

Moat  of  these  creations  are  due,  under  the  excellent  bishop,  to 
the  zeal,  devotedness,  and  perseverance  of  the  Rev.  P.  Haver- 
mans,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church. 

To  give  his  diocese  an  institution  in  which  young  ladies 
might  obtain  a  higher  degree  of  education  than  the  schools 
already  in  operation  afforded,  Bishop  McCloskey  applied,  and 
not  unsuccessfully,  to  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  A  colony 
of  that  order  arrived  in  Albany  in  1852,  and  opened  an  academy 
in  a  central  and  agreeable  position.  The  high  standard  of  in- 
struction afforded  by  these  pious  followers  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
has  here,  as  in  all  other  parts,  met  with  general  appreciation. 
The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools  meanwhile  extended  the 
institutions  of  their  order  in  the  diocese.  In  1854  they  assumed 
the  direction  of  a  new  asylum  for  boys,  erected  by  the  bishop  on 
a  farm  about  a  mile  from  his  cathedral,  and  in  the  following 
year  opened  a  large  academy  at  Utica,  which  cost  over  seven- 
teen thousand  dollars,  ^nd  is  due  chiefly  to  the  zealous  exertions 
of  the  late  Nicholas  Devereux  of  that  city. 

The  churches  and  clergymen  in  the  diocese  have  increased  in 
proportion  to  the  other  institutions.  The  churches  now  amount 
to  eighty-seven,  with  nine  more  in  process  of  erection.  The 
clergy  numbers  seventy-four,  among  whom  are,  as  we  have  seen, 
several  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate,  in 
charge  of  the  French  parishes  in  the  north  of  the  State,  and 
Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesu8,_who  direct  St.  Joseph's  Church 
at  Troy  and  a  Germanjchurch  at  Syracuse. 

The  Congregation  of  Missionaries  (Oblates)  was  founded  in 
1815  at  Aix,  in  Provence,  by  the  Rev.  Qhart^  Jos^h'' Eugene 
Mazenod,  now  Bishop  of  Marseilles.  Feeling  himself  called  to  de- 
vote himself  to  the  spiritual  service  of  the  poor  and  prisoners,  he 
began  regular  instructions  in  the  churches  and  visits  to  the 


IN  THK   UNITED  STATICS. 


477 


►een 


p,to 
ftver- 


prisons.  Others  soon  joined  him,  and  in  order  to  consolidate  the 
work,  he  drew  up  constitutions  and  rules.  The  fathers  beheld 
in  these  the  will  of  God,  and  applied  themselves  to  attain  reli- 
gious perfection  by  close  adherence  to  them.  The  prelates  of 
Provence  and  Dauphiny  all  approved  the  new  institute,  and  urged 
the  founder  to  solicit  the  confirmation  of  his  rule  by  the  Holy 
See.  After  a  long  examination  by  a  congregation  of  cardinals, 
Pope  Leo  XII.  solemnly  approved  the  institute  and  rule  on  the 
l7th  of  April,  1826,  and  the  missionaries  received  from  the  Holy 
Father  himself  the  name  of  Oblate  Missionaries  of  Mary  con- 
ceived without  sin.  Letters  apostolic,  by  an  exception  made  in 
their  favor,  were  issued  on  the  21st  of  March  in  the  same  year, 
canonically  establishing  the  congregation. 

Their  objects  are,  parish  missions,  the  direction  of  theological 
seminaries,  the  spiritual  direction  of  young  men,  the  poor,  prison- 
ers, and  those  in  special  need  of  instruction ;  and  lastly,  the  for- 
eign missions.  Like  the  Society  of  Jesus,  they  place  their  ser- 
vices iu  a  special  manner  at  the  command  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  are  ever  ready  to  repair  to  any  part  of  the  world  for 
the  good  of  religion. 

The  Congregation  had  spread  to  various  parts  of  France, 
Switzerland,  Savoy,  and  Sardinia,  when,  in  1841,  the  Bight  Rev. 
Ignatius  Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  solicited  a  colony  for  his 
diocese.  While  the  order  afterwards  spread  rapidly  in  £urope, 
it  assumed  a  no  less  remarkable  development  in  America.  A 
novitiate  was  opened  at  Montreal,  which  many  devoted  clergy- 
men entered,  and  ere  long  the  Oblate  missionaries  were  directing 
institutions  of  learning,  and  exercising  the  holy  ministry  wherever 
the  need  was  the  greatest.  The  Indian  missions  especially  at- 
tracted them,  and  from  the  Saguenay  to  the  Pacific  they  may 
now  be  found,  laboring  to  evangelize  the  aborigines.  Already 
has  this  new  order  furnished  the  ancient  Church  of  Canada 
with  two  zealous  prelates.    Of  their  entrance  into  New  Ycik, 


4Y8 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


and  their  labors  among  the  forsaken  Canadians,  we  have  already 
spoken.* 

Before  leaving  the  diocese  of  Albany,  we  cannot  omit  re- 
counting a  conversion  which  brought  many  Protestants  of  Onon- 
daga into  the  Church.  Syracuse,  the  chief  place  of  the  county, 
numbered  among  its  earliest,  and  still  among  its  most  influentiul 
residents,  the  families  of  Lynch  and  McCarthy,  by  whose  zeal 
chiefly  the  house  of  God  has  been  erected  and  upheld.  Yet 
Catholicity  was  all  but  unknown.  One  evening  in  tht;  spring  of 
1836,  an  Irish  peddler,  urging  his  horse  and  wagon  through  the 
miry  roads,  broke  down   not  far  from  the  house   of  Colonel 

D f  a  wealthy  farmer,  near  Pompey.     With  the  friendly 

feeling  usual  in  the  country,  the  colonel  went  out  to  offer  his  as- 
sistance; but  it  was  evident  that  the  harness  needed  repairs, 
which  would  detain  him  till  morning.  He  accordingly  invited 
the  peddler  to  pass  the  night  there :  the  latter  accepted  the  kindly 
welcome,  and  after  stabling  his  horse,  entered  the  house.  Sup- 
per was  scarcely  ended,  when  Mrs. began  to  feel  anxious 

about  his  remaining ;  for  the  man  was  Irish,  evidently,  and  prob- 
ably a  Catholic.  The  peddler,  little  aware  of  the  terror  he  was 
causing,  freely  avowed  his  faith,  and  now  nothing  could  exceed 
the  distress  of  the  gentleman  and  his  wife.  Too  good-hearted  to 
turn  the  man  out,  they  prepared  themselves  for  some  terrible 
mishap.  The  colonel  talked  with  him  for  a  time  on  religious 
matters,  but  the  peddler  was  not  able  to  give  such  explanations 
as  he  needed.  When  bedtime  came,  he  was  carefully,  but  si- 
lently, locked  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  family  retired  to  uneasy 
beds.     On  departing  the  next  morning,  after  having  repaired  the 

accident,  the  peddler  oflfered  Mr.  D a  small  book  on  the 

Catholic  religion,  which,  with  some  others,  formed  part  of  his 
stock ;  and,  thanking  him  for  his  hospitality,  journeyed  on.    The 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xii.  281. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


479 


eady 

it  re- 
3nou- 
3unty, 
lential 

.    Yet 
•ring  of 
igb  the 
Colonel 
friendly 
r  his  a8- 

repaiw, 
ff  invited 
le  kindly 
ie.    Sup- 
anxious 
«id  prob- 

ox  he  was 
exceed 

learted  to 
terrible 

religio^i* 
Sanations 

ly,  but  si- 
uneasy 
)aired  the 
pk  on  the 
[art  of  his 
on.    The 


e 


colonel  read  the  book,  and  was  filled  with  surprise  and  astonish- 
ment :  he  induced  his  wife  to  take  it  up ;  she  was  no  less 
amazed.  Catholicity,  as  Catholics  know  and  practise  it,  was, 
she  saw,  as  diflferent  from  Catholicity  portrayed  by  Protestant 
ministers  and  tracts,  as  day  is  from  night.  When  the  peddler 
returned,  they  took  such  other  books  as  he  had,  and  finding,  in 
the  end  of  one,  a  catalogue  of  Catholic  books,  they  ordered  them 
from  New  York.  Conviction  began  to  dawn  upon  their  minds 
that  the  Reformation  was  a  mere  human  act,  entirely  unauthor- 
ized by  any  divine  commission,  and  completely  at  variance  with 
Christ's  promises.  They  consulted  the  Presbyterian  minister  to 
whose  church  they  had  belonged,  but  were  so  far  from  being 
satisfied  with  his  explanations,  that  they  lost  no  occasion  ot 
proving  to  their  neighbors  that  the  Reformation  was  all  wrong. 
Provoked  at  this,  the  minister  had  them  both  arraigned  for  here- 
sy, and  formally  cut  off  from  the  communion  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

They  now  entered  into  correspondence  with  a  Catholic  clergy- 
man, and  all  doubts  being  soon  cleared  away,  they  were  baptized 
at  Utica,  on  Christmas-day,  1836.  Many  other  members  of  their 
family  and  neighbors  imitated  their  example,  and  in  less  than  a 
year  sixteen  persons  abjured  Protestantism,  and  embraced  the 
faith.  Others  have  since  joined  this  nucleas  of  the  faithful ;  and 
thus,  by  a  special  providence  of  God,  a  number  of  Protestants, 
amid  a  population  embittered  against  Catholics  by  prejudices 
and  falsehoods,  which  designing  men  even  now,  in  the  light  of 
boasted  freedom,  are  not  ashamed  to  perpetuate,  were  led,  with- 
out even  hearing  the  words  of  a  priest,  into  the  very  Church  of 
Christ.* 

On  the  division  of  the  State,  a  See  was  fixed  also  at  Buffalo, 
with  a  diocese  comprising  Cayuga,  Tompkins,  and  Tioga  coun- 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xii.  281. 


480 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


ties,  and  all  tJiose  west  of  them.  To  fill  this  See,  the  choice  of 
the  Holy  See  fell  upon  the  Rev.  John  Timon,  a  priest  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Missions.  Bora  in  Mi^setrfi,  he  at  an  early 
age  entered  the  novitiate  at  the  Barrens,  and  while  still  a  divinity 
student,  commenced  a  public  course  of  controversy  in  reply  to 
the  attacks  of  some  Protestant  clergymen.*  Soon  after  his  or- 
dination, when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Green,  a  Protestant  minister,  inter- 
fered between  him  and  a  poor  culprit  whom  he  had  converted 
and  baptized,  he  challenged  the  minister  to  a  public  discussion, 
and  completely  silenced  him.f  His  missionary  career  was  most 
varied ;  and  Texas,  especially,  may  regard  him  as  the  founder  of 
its  present  Catholic  establishments,  while  hardly  a  city  of  the 
West  has  not  telt  the  efiect  of  his  missions  and  retreats-J  At 
the  time  of  his  nomination  to  the  See  of  Buffalo,  he  was  Visitor 
of  his  Congregation  in  the  United  States,  and  had  twice  listed 
as  Superior  in  the  sessions  of  the  Provincial  Councils  at  Balti- 
more.§  He  was  consecrated  at  New  York  on  the  iTth  of  Octo- 
ber, 1847,  and  on  the  23d  arrived  in  Buffalo,  accompanied  by 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishops  Hughes,  Walsh,  and  McCloskey.  Here 
he  was  enthusiastically  received  by  a  large  body  of  Catholics, 
who  escorted  their  prelate  in  procession  to  the  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  where  he  bestowed  upon  them  his  episcopal  benedic- 
tion.! 

The  portion  committed  to  his  care  was  the  last  settled  in  the 
State,  and  Catholicity  is  there  of  more  recent  date.  The  old 
French  fort  at  Niagara,  begun  originally  in  December,  1678,  by 
the  celebrated  explorer.  La  Salle,  as  one  of  his  line  of  posts,  had 
been  more  or  less  regularly  attended  by  chaplains  from  that 
date.  It  was  visited,  in  1679,  by  the  romantic  Father  Hennepin, 
of  the  Order  of  Recollects,  or  Reformed  Franciscans,  and  by  the 


*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  ii.  365. 

X  Id.,  xii.  84,  279  ;  xv.  865. 

S  Conoilia  Balbimori  habita,  211-238. 


t  Id.,  V.  595. 
I  Id.,  zzJi.  81. 


.  'tr—n-     'f,- 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


481 


ce  of 
if  the 
early 
vinity 
ply  to 
bis  or- 
,  inter- 
iverted 
jussion, 
as  most 
mder  of 
r  of  the 

ts-t    At 
B  Visitor 
)  Assisted 
at  Balti- 
of  Octo- 
[anied  by 
Here 
lathoUcs, 
5h  of  St. 


still  more  distinguished  Fathers  Gabriel  do  la  Ribourde  and 
Zenobe  Membre,  of  the  same  order,  both  martyrs  to  their  zeal  in 
endeavoring  to  plant  the  faith  amid  the  wilderness.*     Here,  on 
his  departure  for  the  West,  La  Salle  left  as  chaplain  another 
Recollect,  Father  Melithon  Watteau,  with  a  small  party.   Hither 
La  Salle  returned  on  foot,  baffled,  but  not  discouraged,  in  April, 
1680;  and  he  set  out  from  it  again  in  1682,  on  his  memorable 
expedition,  which  had  the  gloiy  of  first  descending  the  Missis- 
sippi to  its  mouth.    On  the  disastrous  end  of  La  Salle,  his  post 
at  Niagara  was  abandoned,  and  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  the 
Seneca  country,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  elsewhere,  were  the 
only  priests  of  Catholicity  in  W<^«tern  New  York.    In  1687,  the 
Marquis  de  Denonville,  in  spite  oi'  the  protests  of  Governor  Don- 
gan,  took  possession  of  the  spot  in  July,  and  began  to  rebuild 
the  fort.      Denonville  had  just  returned  from  his  expedition 
against  the  Senecas,  and  restored  Niagara,  as  a  check  upon  them. 
The  Jesuit  Father  John  de  Lamberville  was  the  first  chaplain  of 
the  new  fort,  having  reached  it  in  September,  168*7.    But  the 
garrison,  closely  blockaded  by  the  Indians,  was  attacked  by  the 
scurvy,  and  the  missionary,  sick  himself,  was  dragged  on  the  ice 
to  Fort  Frontenac,  which  he  reached  almost  in  a  dying  condi- 
tion.   He  was  succeeded  by  Father  Peter  Milet,  who  remained 
till  the  evacuation  of  the  fort  in  September,  1688.    The  official 
account  of  the  commandant  at  that  time  states  that  he  demol- 
ished the  ramparts,  leaving  the  houses  and  cabins,  in  order  to 
prove  possession,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  fort,  a  cross  eighteen 
feet  high,  which  the  officers  had  planted  on  Good  Friday,  after 
it  had  been  solemnly  blessed  by  Father  Milet.    This  cross  bore 
the  inscription,  "  Christus  vincit,  Christus  regnat,  Christus  im- 
perat ;"  and  it  remained  to  foretell  the  future  triumphs  of  reli- 
gion, where,  almost  beneath  its  shadow,  now  rises  the  noble 


*  Shea,  HiRtory  of  the  Catholic  Missions,  412,  48i. 

21 


482 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


Cathedral  of  Buffalo.  The  chaplain's  cabin  is  thus  described : 
"  The  Rev.  Father  Milet's  cabin,  furnished  with  its  chimney,  win- 
dows and  sashes,  shelves,  a  bedstead  and  four  boards  arranged 
inside,  with  a  door  furnished  with  its  fastenings  and  hinges,  the 
whole  cabin  being  made  of  twenty-four  boards."* 

In  1*721  the  French  resumed  possession  of  Niagara,  which  they 
held  till  the  fatal  battle  in  which  the  gallant  Aubry  was  defeated, 
in  his  attempt  to  relieve  it.  The  fort  then  surrendered,  in  1759. 
During  this  interval  of  thirty-eight  years,  the  fort  had  undoubt- 
edly a  Recollect  chaplain,  because  the  king  assigned  one  to  every 
fort  holding  over  forty  men,  and  the  garrison  at  Niagara  always 
exceeded  that  number.  We  do  not,  however,  find  any  mention- 
ed by  name,  except  the  celebrated  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel ; 
and  the  register  of  the  fort  is  unfortunately  lost,  having  probably 
been  carried  to  Albany  after  the  surrender.f 

The  Revolution  checked  the  progress  of  settlements  in  that 
part,  and  emigration  did  not  revive  till  the  close  of  the  century. 
The  number  of  Catholics  who  settled  here  continued  to  be  very 
small  for  many  years ;  and  these  were  ^'  ag  without  a  pastor.  It 
was  not  till  Bishop  Connolly  took  possession  that  a  priest  was 
stationed  in  this  part  of  New  York ;  and,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  the  first  pastor  sent  to  seek  out  the  strayed  sheep  in 
that  district  is  still  alive,  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry. 
This  is  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly,  who,  sent  to  the  West,  erected, 
about  1820,  St.  Patrick's  Church  in  Rochester,  then  a  small  vil- 


*  Dc  amentary  History  of  New  York,  i.  243-275.  Colonial  Documents, 
ix.  887. 

t  Father  Emmanuel  Crespel,  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis,  came  to  Canada 
in  1728,  was  chaplain  at  Crown  Point,  and  then  at  Niagara.  He  also  visited 
Detroit,  and  attended  an  expedition  against  the  Fox  Indians  in  Wisconsin, 
in  1728.  He  set  sail  for  Europe  in  1742,  but  was  wrecked  at  tiie  mouth  of 
the  St  Lawrence.  Those  who  reached  the  shore,  almost  all  perished  of 
cold  or  hunger.  Father  Crespel  survived,  and  on  his  return  to  Europe,  pub- 
lished an  account  of  his  travels,  which  is  remarkably  interesting. 


N  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


483 


ibed : 
,  win- 
anged 
js,  the 

li  they 
ifeated, 
1 1759. 
adoubt- 
o  every 
,  always 
[lention- 
3vespel ; 
probably 

;  in  that 
,  century. 

be  very 
istor.    It 

riest  was 
it  may 

sheep  in 

ministry, 
erected, 

small  vil- 

)ocument9, 


lags,  and  visited  various  stations  along  the  Erie  Canal,  as  far 
east  as  Auburn,  and  westward  to  Buffalo.*  The  Laity's  Directory 
for  1822  says,  "  In  Auburn,  an  agreeable  littla  town,  there  is 
likewise  a  Catholic  church,  recently  erected."  The  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Dubois  had,  as  we  have  seen,  found  no  churcli  in  Buffalo 
in  1829,  but  blessed  the  ground  for  St.  Louis  Church,  given  to 
him  by  William  B.  Le  Couteulx,  Esq.  "  Here,"  he  writes  at  the 
time,  "  I  found  seven  or  eight  hundred  Catholics,  French,  Cana- 
dians, Swiss,  and  Irish,  instead  of  fifty  or  sixty,  as  I  had  been  inform- 
ed. Although  I  did  not  understand  German,  I  was  obliged  to  hear 
the  confessions  of  two  hundred  Swiss,  who  understood  neither 
English  nor  French.  These  good  people  experienced  an  inex- 
pressible joy  at  being  enabled  to  approach  the  sacraments.  I 
celebrated  a  solemn  Mass  in  the  courthouse,  more  than  eight 
hundred  Catholics  and  Protestants  being  present.  An  altar  had 
been  erected  on  the  platform  where  the  judges  us^^ally  sat. 
The  presence  of  a  bishop,  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice, 
the  number  of  communicants,  the  beauty  and  gravity  of  the 
chant,  the  administration  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  which  I 
conferred  on  thirty  or  forty  persons,  produced  a  general  emo- 
tion."f 

In  1834,  twelve  years  later,  so  slow  had  been  the  progress  of 
Catholicity,  that  we  find  only  two  priests  then  employed  in  what 
is  now  the  diocese  of  Buffalo.  These  were  the  Rev.  Nicholas 
_Mertz  and  the  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly.  Father  Mertz  was  a  na- 
tive of  Geriaaliy,  ordained  in  his  native  country  in  1791,  but 
received  into  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  in  1811,  by  Bishop  Carroll, 
by  whom  he  was  always  much  respected  and  esteemed.  He 
spent  fifteen  years  at  Baltimore,  three  at  Conewago,  but  the  re- 
mainder of  his  career  at  Buffalo  and  Eden,  where  he  labored 


V 


*  Letter  of  the  Rev.  John  Shanahan. 

t  Annalea  de  la  Propagation  de  \a  Foi,  iv.  455. 


484 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


with  the  most  untiring  zeal  from  the  year  1829  till  his  death,  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1844,  when  he  expired,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
one.*       V\^U% 

The  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly,  whose  loss  in  the  ill-fated  Pacific 
all  are  now  deploring,  was  connected  with  the  church  at  Roches- 
ter from  about  1832  till  the  period  of  his  nomination  to  the 
episcopal  See  of  Haitford.  In  that  city  his  zeal  and  labors  were 
untiring ;  and  most  of  the  institutions  there,  of  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter,  are  due  to  his  energy  and  devo- 
tedness. 

In  1835,  Williamsville  had  as  pastor  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wyatt,  fol- 
lowed soon  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneider,  who  long  labored  here. 
Auburn,  too,  had  a  pastor,  in  1834,  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  J. 
O'Donoghue,  who  purchased  a  small  Methodist  meeting-house, 
and  made  it  the  first  Catholic  church  in  the  place.  But  during 
the  effervescence  of  minds  at  that  time,  the  presence  of  a  cler- 
gyman was  so  disliked,  that  a  young  man  was  surprised  in  the 
act  of  setting  fire  to  the  church  while  the  poor  and  scanty  con- 
gregation were  assembled  in  it.f  In  1838,  Eden  and  Lockport 
had  also  their  pastors,  and  the  Germans  had  erected  at  Rochester 
a  church,  attended  by  Father  Joseph  Prost  and  Father  Simon 
Sanderl,  both  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer, 
whothus  inaugurated  the  missions  of  their  order  in  Western 
New  York,  which  have  continued  to  the  present  time,  and  been 
fruitful  in  good.  They  have  also  a  large  and  still  more  flourish- 
ing church  of  their  order  at  Rochester,  where  four  Fathers  are 
constantly  employed  in  the  ministry. 

Other  churches  arose  at  other  points,  and  when  the  diocese 
was  divided,  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  found,  on  taking  possession 
of  his  See,  eighteen  clergymen  in  the  district  committed  to  his 


*  Catholic  Almanac,  1845,  p.  179. 

t  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.  254.    Letter  of  Bev.  P. 


O'Flaherty. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


485 


care,  three  churches  in  Ba£fa1o,  four  in  Rochester,  and  churches 
or  stations  in  every  county.  Rochester  also  possessed  an  orphan 
asylum,  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  of  St.  Jo- 
seph, founded  in  1845,  and  an  academy,  conducted  by  the  same 
Sisters. 

Bishop  Timon  began  his  administration  like  a  veteran  mis- 
sionary. On  the  21st  of  November,  184Y,  less  than  a  month 
after  his  arrival,  he  consecrated  the  Church  of  St.  Louis,  and 
confirmed  over  two  hundred  persons.  He  then  proceeded  to 
Rochester,  where  he  gave  a  retreat,  preaching  three  times  a  day, 
and  making  two  meditations  for  the  people,  spending  the  rest  of 
his  time  in  the  confessional.  The  next  month  he  gave  retreats 
in  Java  and  Buffalo ;  in  January,  at  Lockport.  Besides  these 
labors,  he  preached,  instructed,  and  gave  confirmation  at  Attica, 
Geneva,  Ithaca,  Elmira,  and  Scio,  besides  visiting  the  prisoners 
at  Auburn,  where,  of  over  four  hundred,  he  found  only  twenty- 
eight  Catholics.* 

One  of  his  earliest  plans  was  the  foundation  of  a  college ;  and 
in  1848  the  Rev.  Julian  Delauno,  late  President  of  St.  Mary's 
College,  Kentucky,  opened,  under  the  auspices  of  the  bishop,  the 
College  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Rochester;  but  it  met  with  diflficul- 
ties,  and  closed  in  1852.  Another  institution,  St.  Joseph's  Col- 
lege at  BuflFalo,  was  opened  in  1849,  and  conducted  for  a  time 
by  secular  priests  and  the  seminarians  of  the  diocese  ;  but  this 
being  found  a  plan  attended  with  much  difficulty,  the  college 
was,  in  the  year  1851,  committed  to  the  care  of  the  Oblate 
Fathers.  Those  Fathers  conducted  it  until  the  year  1855,  when 
it  was  found  necessary  to  suspend  it,  to  the  great  regret  of  the 
bishop. 

The  foundation  of  a  hospital  at  Buffalo  was  attended  with 
happier  results.     It  was  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of 


Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  xxi.  81. 


486 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


r 


Charity,  who  won  the  admiration  and  confidence  of  the  commu- 
nity ;  80  much  so,  indeed,  that  a  Protestant  clergyman  by  the 
name  of  Lord  thought  that  his  creed  was  in  danger,  and  by 
anonymous  communications  in  the  papers,  or  articles  over  vari- 
ous letters  of  the  alphabet,  endeavored  to  create  prejudice 
against  the  hospital,  and  excite  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  his 
fellow-citizens.  The  Very  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly  came  out  in 
reply,  and  forced  Mr.  Lord  to  throw  off  the  mask.  A  long  con- 
troversy ensued,  in  which  the  endea^'ors  of  Mr.  Lord  to  escape 
rather  justly  prejudiced  all  honest  men  against  himself.*  In- 
stead of  injuring  the  hospital,  this  attack  added  to  its  popularity. 
Up  to  December,  1851,  twenty-four  hundred  persons  were  re- 
ceived into  the  hospital,  most  of  whom,  but  for  the  care  thus 
afforded  them,  would  have  sunk  to  their  graves.  A  medical 
journal,  edited  by  a  Protestant  physician,  said,  "  The  fact  that 
the  services  of  these  intelligent,  educated,  and  pious  Sisters  are 
bestowed  without  compensation,  contributes  greatly  to  the  econ- 
omy of  the  institution  ;  but  apart  from  this,  the  same  capabili- 
ties and  fidehty  could  not  be  purchased  by  any  pecuniary  con- 
siderations. No  salary,  however  great,  could  afford  a  substitute 
for  motives  derived  from  the  religious  obligations  which  urge 
those  devoted  females  to  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  offices  of 
charity."f 

The  exertions  of  the  bishop  in  the  cause  of  education  were 
not  confined  to  the  colleges :  he  sought  to  endow  his  diocese 
with  a  house  of  religious  women  devoted  to  the  highest  order  of 
teaching,  and  rejoiced  to  find  that  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart  were  able  and  willing  to  aid  him.  A  colony,  accordingly, 
came  from  Manhattanville  in  1849,  and  founded  a  convent  of 


*  Discufision  relative  to  the  Buffalo  Hospital  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
between  the  Rev.  John  C.  Lord  and  the  Very  Eev.  B.  O'Reilly,  72  pp.  Buf- 
falo, 1850. 

t  See  Second  General  Report  of  the  Buffalo  Hospital,  Buffalo,  1852. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


487 


their  order  in  Buffalo,  which  was  in  1865  transferred  to  Roches- 
ter, as  a  more  central  point  for  their  academy. 

Besides  these  institutions,  the  untiring  bishop  established  a  found- 
ling hospital  and  asylum  for  widows,  and  has  within  the  last  year 
introduced  the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Charity,  a  colony  of  the 
original  order,  as  founded  by  Father  Eudes,  in  1 645.  They  have 
not  yet  been  enabled  to  open  a  penitent  asylum,  and  are  labor- 
ing under  great  diflficulties ;  but  the  devoted  pastor  will  overcome 
all  obstacles  to  his  good  works.  The  Sisters  who  founded  this 
convent,  the  first  of  their  order  in  the  United  States,  were  Sister 
Mary  de  St.  Jerome  Tourneny,  as  Superior,  Sisters  Mary  de  St. 
Etienne  Vardey  and  Sister  Mary  de  St.  Cyr  Corbin,  with  the  lay- 
Sister  Mary  of  St.  Martin :  they  were  a  filiation  from  the  con- 
vent of  Rennes,  and  arrived  in  Buffalo  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1855. 

These  are  not  the  only  accessions  within  the  last  year :  the 
Brothers  of  the  Holy  Infancy  of  Jesus  have  been  introduced  to 
direct  the  boys'  orphan  asylum ;  and  the  Sisters  of  St.  Bridget, 
an  order  founded  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  in  Ireland, 
by  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Lanigan,  in  honor  of  the  Virgin  Patroness 
of  the  island,  now  devote  themselves  to  the  instruction  of  poor 
gills  at  Buffalo  and  Rochester. 

The  impulse  given  by  the  good  bishop  was  felt  in  other  parts 
of  the  diocese,  and  the  zealous  pastor  of  Canandaigua,  the  Rev. 
E.  O'Connor,  whom  we  find  laboring  in  the  diocese  in  1848, 
and  at  Canandaigua  since  1851,  resolved,  after  erecting  chapels 
at  the  most  important  points  around  him,*  to  give  his  parish 
such  establishments  of  mercy  as  would  perpetuate  the  faith. 
The  religious  order  to  which  he  applied  was  the  Sisters  of  St. 
Joseph,  who  had  a  house  at  St.  Louis  and  in  other  cities  of  the 
Union.    Of  the  origin  of  this  order  we  have  given  an  account 


*  Bloomfleld  aod  Lushville. 


488 


THS   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


when  speaking  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia,  and  need  not  re- 
peat it  here.  On  the  8th  of  December,  1854,  the  veiy  day  when 
all  the  Christian  world  exulted,  by  its  representative  bishops  at 
Rome,  on  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception by  his  Hohness  Pope  Pius  IX.,  a  colony  of  the  Sisterg 
of  St.  Joseph  arrived  at  Canandaigua  from  St.  Louis.  Mother 
Agnes,  the  Superior,  had  as  companions  Sisters  Frances,  Joseph, 
Theodosia,  and  Petronilla,  followed  by  two  others  from  St.  Louis 
and  one  from  Philadelphia.  Devoting  themselves  to  the  various 
good  works  contemplated  by  their  rule,  they  opened  an  acade- 
my, which  is  numerously  attended,  and  enables  the  Sisters  to  un- 
dertake other  works  of  mercy.  Besides  an  orphan  asylum,  they 
have  a  Home  for  poor  girls  of  good  character,  when  out  of  place, 
or  overtaken  by  sickness.  This  latter  object,  peculiar  to  this 
Home,  is  the  more  essential,  as,  from  the  absence  of  a  hospital, 
the  poor  girl  had  previously  no  alternative  but  the  poorhouse. 

As  the  Sisters  have  opened  a  novitiate,  and  already  had  postu- 
lants, there  is  every  prospect  that  the  order  is  firmly  planted  at 
Canandaigua.* 

While  this  order  was  thus  diflFusing  the  odor  of  sanctity 
around  Canandaigua,  the  western  part  of  New  York  beheld  the 
Recollects  once  more  return  to  the  scene  of  their  early  labors. 
Nicholas  Devereux,  Esq.,  of  Utica,  owned  a  large  tract  in  Alle- 
ghany and  Cattaraugus  counties,  to  which  he  had  endeavored  to 
draw  Catholic  settlers,  facilitating  in  every  way  the  erection  of 
churches  and  establishing  of  missions.  But  the  progress  of 
Catholicity  did  not  correspond  to  his  zealous  wishes,  and  hav- 
ing visited  Rome  in  1854,  applied  to  the  Irish  College  of  St. 
Isidore  for  Fathers  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis  to  found  a  mis- 
sion in  New  York,  ofiering  five  thousand  dollars  and  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  for  the  new  convent.    He  wished  seven  Fathers  in 


*  Letter  of  Bev.  E.  O'Connor.    Notice  in  the  Baffalo  Sentinel. 


IN  TH£  UNITED  STATES. 


489 


order  to  begin  the  mission,  but  as  there  were  not  so  many  able 
to  speak  English  who  could  be  sent,  it  was  resolved  to  defer  the 
intended  colony  for  two  years.  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  Buf- 
falo was,  however,  in  Rome,  and,  from  his  zeal,  objected  to  any 
such  delay.  On  this,  some  of  the  Fathers  so  earnestly  besought 
the  General  of  the  order  for  permission  to  go  and  restore  the 
Franciscan  order  in  that  part  of  the  world,  where  their  own 
brethren  had  been  the  first  apostles,  that  he  consented,  and  the 
Fathers  received  all  due  faculties. 

Of  this  new  colony  of  Recollects,  Father  Pamphilus  de  Mag- 
liano  is  the  Warden,  or  Superior,  having  under  him  Father 
Sixtus  de  Gagliano,  Father  Samuel  da  Prezza,  and  the  lay- 
brother,  Salvador  de  Manarola.  They  are  all  Recollects,  or 
Reformed  Franciscans,  of  the  same  family  as  the  early  missiona- 
ries of  Canada,  and  the  chaplains  whom  we  have  had  occasion 
to  mention.* 

Two  of  the  Fathers  were  professors  of  theology  at  or  near 
Rome,  the  Superior  at  the  Irish  College,  Father  Sixtus  at  the 
convent  of  St.  Bernardine,  at  Urbino ;  Father  Samuel  was  at  the 
College  San  Pietro  Montorio,  in  Rome,  having  just  completed  his 
studies.  Father  Pamphilus  and  Father  Sixtus  had  long  nour- 
ished a  desire  of  devoting  themselves  to  the  foreign  missions,  and 
had  selected  the  United  States  as  their  chosen  field  of  labor ;  so 
much  so,  that  a  few  days  before  Mr.  Devereux's  application,  they 
had  declined  an  invitation  to  proceed  to  Buenos  Ayres. 

With  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  authority  to  estab- 
lish a  province  of  their  order,  they  left  Rome  on  the  9th  of 


*  The  FranciBcans,  or  Friars  Minor,  comprise,  Ist,  The  Observantinesj'the 
Kecollects,  and  Alcantarines,  who  number  about  ninety  thousand,  and  are 
subject  to  the  Minister-general  of  the  Order  of  Minors.  The  present  Gen- 
eral is  Father  Venantius  da  Celano,  a  Recollect.  2d,  The  Capucins.  8d,  The 
Conventuals.  4th,  The  Tertiaries :  the  last  three  having  each  a  General  of 
their  own.  The  Capucins  number  about  forty  thousand,  the  Convontuala 
seven  thousand,  and  the  Tertiaries  a  number  almost  incalculable. 

21* 


490 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


May,  1856,  and  reaching  New  York  on  the  19th  of  June,  pro- 
ceeded to  Ellicottsville,  where  they  began  their  labors.  A  con- 
vent and  college  will  soon  arise  in  Allegany  City,  whence  the 
Fathers  will  minister  to  the  Catholics  in  all  the  adjoining  coun- 
try.* Already  have  their  labors  been  fruitful :  everywhere,  in- 
deed, have  the  good  Fathers  of  St.  Francis,  as  humble  and  gentle 
as  their  martyred  brother.  Father  Zenobe  Merabre,  or  the  aged 
Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde,  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of  all. 
As  their  numbers  increase,  Canada  will  doubtless  too  claim  a 
house  of  the  order  of  her  sainted  Caron.f 

Only  one  difficulty  troubled  the  administration  of  Bishop 
Timon,  and  this  arose  in  the  Church  of  St.  Louis.  The  ground 
for  that  church  had  been  deeded  to  Bishop  Dubois,  at  the  time 
of  his  visit  to  Buffalo  in  1829,  by  Louis  Le  Couteulx,  Esq.  Grad- 
ually the  church  had  been  erected,  and  a  body  of  trustees  or- 
ganized, under  the  general  law  of  the  State.  To  them  the 
administration  of  the  church  was  transferred,  the  bishop  having 
full  confidence  in  their  integrity  as  men,  and  fidelity  as  Catholics. 
This  hope  was,  however,  delusive  :  ere  long  they  began  to  usui-p 
powers  not  their  own ;  and  on  the  issuing  of  the  pastoral  letter 
of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Hughes,  after  the  Diocesan  Synod  in 
1842,  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis's  Church  peremptorily  refused  to 
submit  to  the  regulations  contained  in  it.  These  regulations  re- 
quired every  church  to  act  under  its  pastor,  subject  to  the  ulti- 
mate decision  of  the  ordinary  in  the  appointment  of  teachers, 
sexton,  organists,  choir,  and  other  persons  employed  in  the  house 
of  God.  It  also  subjected  the  expenditures  of  the  church  funds 
to  the  supervision  of  the  pastor  and  bishop,  and  required  the  ac- 
counts to  be  open  to  their  inspection.  By  the  terms  of  the  pas- 
toral, any  church  refusing  to  submit  to  these  regulations  within 


*  Letter  of  Father  MagliaDO. 

t  Bee  History  of  the  Catholio  MiBaions. 


IN   THE  UNITED  STATES. 


491 


six  months,  was  to  be  deprived  of  a  pastor.  The  Church  of  St. 
Louis,  notwithstundiDg  the  refusal  of  the  trustees,  was  not  de- 
prived by  the  bishop  of  its  pastor,  but  the  trustees  and  their 
adherents  compelled  the  Revmr.  Pax  to  quit  his  post  and  leave 
the  country.* 

The  bishop  declined  to  put  another  clergyman  at  their  mercy, 
but  sent  two  priests,  who  erected  a  new  church,  leaving  fhat  of 
St.  Louis  closed.  On  the  next  visitation  of  his  diocese  by  Bishop 
Hughes,  he  received  the  voluntary  submission  of  the  schismatic 
trustees,  who  agreed  to  observe  the  regulations  of  the  pastoral. 
A  priest  was  again  placed  there,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Right 
Rev.  Bishop  Timon  consecrated  the  church  soon  after  his  arrival, 
on  being  informed  that  the  title  of  the  church  was  in  the  bishop. 
The  trustees,  however,  soon  resumed  their  usurpation,  and  the 
pastor  publicly  insulted,  menaced,  and  ordered  by  a  daring  mi- 
nority to  quit,  withdrew,  bearing  with  him  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment. A  new  church  was  begun  for  the  faithful  part  of  the  con- 
gregation, as  beforcf 

The  trustees  still  maintained  their  opposition,  however,  and 
appealed  to  the  Holy  See.  As  the  Supreme  Pontiff  was  just 
about  to  send  to  this  country,  for  the  first  time,  a  Nuncio,  in  the 
person  of  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  the  Most  Reverend  Cajetan 
Bedini,  he  confided  to  him,  among  other  things,  the  considera- 
tion of  the  case.  In  a  long  and  able  letter,  that  eminent  prelate, 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1853,  discussed  the  whole  question,  and 
showed  them  that  the  canons  of  the  Church  were  imperative, 
and  that  the  charter  under  which  they  claimed,  being  merely 
permissive,  must  be  construed  so  as  not  to  conflict  with  their 
duty  as  Catholics.  "  The  privilege  which  the  civil  law  grants  is 
permissive ;  you  may  igo  it,  or  not.  It  is  your  duty  to  consult 
the  principles  of  your  faith,  to  ascertain  when  and  how  you 


V\ 


^  Brooksiana,  p.  68. 


t  Reply  to  Mr.  Babcook^  Speech,  p.  6* 


402 


THE  OATHOLIO  OHUROH 


t 


ought  to  use  it***  Having  shown  them  that  the  management  of 
the  pious  offerings  belonged  to  the  bishop,  as  they  were  mode 
for  the  support  of  divine  worship,  which  clergymen  appointed  by 
him  alone  could  perform,  he  urged  them  to  comply  with  the 
wishes  of  their  prelate ;  but  they  obstinately  refused,  rejecting 
the  decision  of  the  very  tribunal  to  which  they  appealed. 

The  good  bishop  did  not  despair,  and  the  Rev.  Father  Francis 
X.  Weninger,  of  the  society,  an  eminent  missionary,  having  of- 
fered to  preach  a  retreat  there,  the  bishop  cheerfully  consented, 
and  the  erring  men  at  last  yielded,  and  once  more  enabled  the 
Holy  Sacrifice  to  bo  offered  in  the  church. 

The  diocese  of  Buffalo,  so  poorly  provided  with  missionaries 
when  the  untiring  bishop  was  promoted  to  the  See,  so  destitute 
of  those  ^institutions  of  charity  and  education  needed  above  all  in 
a  country  where  education  and  benevolence  are  a  mask  for  pros- 
elytizing error,  is  now  one  of  the  most  richly  endowed  in  the 
country.  It  contains  one  hundred  and  twenty  churches  and 
chapels,  a  hundred  other  statiuiis,  seventy-eight  priests,  inclu- 
ding, besides  the  secular  clergy,  Ji  suits,  Redemptorists,  Oblates, 
and  Franciscans,  a  theological  seminary,  five  orphan  asylums,  a 
Home  for  the  innocent,  a  Refuge  for  the  penitent,  a  hospital  for 
the  sick,  and  schools  directed  by  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  St.  Bridget, 
Notre  Dame,  and  Charity. 

Brookltn. — The  last  diocese  in  New  York  formed  by  the 
Holy  See  is  that  of  Brooklyn,  comprising  the  whole  of  Long 
Island,  an  island  named  by  the  early  Catholic  Ui^  <>v  ^rms  the 
Isle  of  the  Holy  Apostles.  The  eastern  portion  t«>v.  ><:  it\l&<'  Irom 
New  England,  the  western  by  the  Dutch  in  early  times,  and  few 
Catholics  have  settled  there.  Brooklyn,  from  a  mere  suburb  of 
New  Y(  '  •.  has  grown  within  a  few  years  to  be  one  of  the  largest 


•Letter  of  il'.s  ^!oat  Rev.  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  in  New  York  Freemftn'a 
Jouroal,  NovemHir  5,  185S.  j^/^ 


W  THE    TTNITEn  STATES. 


493 


cities  in  America,  and  miioh  of  it«  population  consista  of  rath*.- 
lics.  In  1822,  there  was  l\^>^  a  Catholic  church  on  the  Ishmd. 
The  next  year,  St.  James's  Church,  in  Juy-street,  was  »ro('ted, 
under  the  auspices  of  Bishop  Connolly  ;  and  here,  in  September, 
1823,  on  a  few  boards  clumsily  put  together^ 
R(  V.  J  )ha  Shanahan  said  his  first  Mass.  T| 
|,  \it  jr  >>ere  was  the  Rev.  John  Walsh,  who] 
the  loinder  of  the  mission,  having  laborec 
many  years.  In  1837  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bradley 
Williamsburg,  which,  with  Staten  Island, 
Tbo  next  year,  Brooklyn  had  a  second  churcl 
after,  the  Rev.  James  O'Donnell  erected  St. 
hurg,  a  small  frame,  which  has  since  been  r^ 
Church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  through  the  exefl 
Rev.  S.  Malone ;  and  the  zealous  Rev.  Mr.  Raffeiner  reare^-t 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  for  his  German  countrymen.  But 
even  these  churches  were  not  sufficient.  In  the  following  year, 
the  Rev.  D.  W.  Bacon,  whom  we  have  seen  on  the  mission  at 
Utica,  and  who  now  fills  the  See  of  Portland,  purchased  a  build- 
ing which  a  priest  had,  in  a  moment  of  insubordination,  erected 
as  an  ludependent  Catholic  Church.  This,  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  God,  became  the  Church  of  the  Assumption.  The 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Emmanuel  became  the  Church 
of  St.  Charles  Borromeo  about  the  time  that  Bishop  Ives,  who 
had  there  ordained  the  Rev,  Donald  McLeod,  became,  with  that 
g  ntleraan,  a  submissive  child  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

When  the  Holy  See  resolved  to  erect  Long  Island  into  a  dio- 
cese, it  called  to  the  episcopate,  as  Bishop  of  Brooklyu,  the  Very 
Rev.  John  Loughlin,  for  many  years  Vicar-general  of  the  diocese 
of  New  York,  and  well  known  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  his 
devotedness  as  a  pastor  in  that  most  trying  of  all  missions,  an 
extensive  paiij.h  in  a  crowded  city.  Educated  at  the  Seminary 
of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  he  had  been  exercising  the  holy  ministry 


r  !    I  1 


494 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


in  New  York  from  1841.  He  was  consecrated  by  the  Most  Rev- 
erend Cajetan  Bedini,  Nuncio  of  His  Holiness,  at  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  on  the  30th  of  October,  1853,  at  the  same  time  as 
the  Right  Rev.  James  R.  Bayley,  Bishop  of  Newark,  and  the 
Right  filv.  Louis  de  Goesbriand,  Bishop  of  Burlington.  The 
new^felate  immediately  took  possession  of  his  diocese,  which 
thjSn  contained,  in  Brooklyn  and  Williamsburg  united,  ten  church- 
es,^nd  in  the  rest  of  the  island  eleven,  with  seven  stations,  the 
w^li^ole  attended  by  a  body  of  twenty-three  priests.  To  aid  them 
fhero,  were  'two .  oi'phan  asylums,  one  directed  by  the  Sisters  of 
X^harity,  who  ha|d  been  laboring  in  Brooklyn  from  1836,  having 
cnarge  both  yf  the  asylum  and  the  free-schools  for  girls.  The 
Christian  Bi'others  had,  however,  within  a  year  or  two  assumed 
the  direction  of  the  free-school  at  St.  James's  Church. 

The  bishop  zealously  applied  himself  to  afford  his  flock  the 
advantages  for  education  and  aid  which  their  condition  required. 
He  purchased  a  house  for  a  colony  of  Dominican  nuns,  which  the 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  RafFeiner  had  pieviously  procured  from  Bavaria. 
In  September,  1855,  the  prelate  also  obtained  some  Visitation 
nuns  of  the  house  at  Baltimore.  These  then  founded,  with 
Mother  Juliana  Mathews  as  Superior,  the  first  monastery  in  New 
York  of  the  order  planted  in  America  by  the  venerable  Alice 
Lalor.  Their  academy  is  already  in  a  prosperous  condition,  anil 
will  supply  a  want  which  Brooklyn  has  long  felt. 

The  good  bishop  was  no  less  successful  in  his  appeal  to  the  Sis- 
ters of  Mercy  at  New  York,  who  in  the  same  year,  under  Mother 
Vincent  Haire,  founded  the  convent  of  St.  Francis  Assisium,  and 
having  obtained  a  delightful  house  for  the  purpose,  now  devote 
themselves  to  all  the  works  which  their  rule  contemplates. 

Newark. — The  State  of  New  Jersey,  forming  the  diocese  of 
Newark,  had  been  confided  to  the  care  of  the  Right  Rev.  James 
Roosevelt  Bayley,  born  at  New  York ;  and  though  a  nephew,  on 
his  father's  side,  of  the  venerable  Mother  Seton,  and  even  con- 


■  ^»■^J:*»'-JJSW7-r■ 


%i 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


495 


,  Rev- 

tiick's 

me  as 

id  the 

The 

which 
shuvch- 
mb,  the 
d  them 
sters  of 

having 
s.  The 
assumed 

flock  the 
requiied. 
^hich  the 

Bavaria. 

isitation 

ed,  with 
in  New 
Ible  Alice 

tion,  anil 

10  the  Sis- 

ir  Mother 
Lium,  and 
|)W  devote 
tes. 

liocese  of 
3V.  James 
l^phew,  oil 
iveu  con- 


nected with  the  family  of  Doogan,  Earl  of  Limerick,  the  Catho- 
lic governor  of  New  York,  he  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the 
Protestant  religion,  and  resolved  to  enter  the  ministry  as  an 
Episcopalian  clergyman.  He  was  stationed  for  some  years  at 
Harlem,  where  he  witnessed  the  faith  and  piety  of  the  Irish 
Catholic  laborers,  who  ever  found  in  him  a  kind  and  generous 
friend.  Early  moved  by  the  doctrines  of  the  Oxford  divines,  he 
proceeded  to  Rome,  and  there,  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  era- 
bracing  the  one  true  faith,  he  renounced  error  with  a  genorous 
spirit  of  sacrifice,  conscious  that  the  step  would  deprive  him  of 
the  accumulated  wealth  which  an  uncle  reserved  for  his  favorite 
nephew.  Proceeding  to  Paris,  he  entered  the  Seminary  of  St. 
Sulpice,  and  after  his  course  of  studies,  was  ordained  at  New 
York,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1844.  He  was  subsequently  Vice- 
president  and  President  of  St.  John's  College,  Pastor  of  Staten 
Island,  and  then  secretary  to  the  archbishop,  an  office  which 
he  filled  down  to  the  time  of  his  consecration  to  the  See  of 
Newark. 

His  jun'sdiction  extends  to  the  whole  State  of  New  Jersey, 
previously  subject  partly  the  See  of  Philadelphia,  and  partly  to 
that  of  New  York.  Of  the  rise  of  Catholicity  in  the  State,  it 
becomes  us  here  to  say  a  few  words.  The  first  Catholic  priest  who 
is  known  to  have  visited  New  Jersey  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harding, 
whose  labors  could  not  have  been  prior  to  1762  ;  but  of  the 
time  and  place  we  have  no  details.  The  chief  Catholic  congre- 
gation was  at  Macoupin,  settled  by  a  colony  of  Germans  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Cologne,  who  were  brought  over  to  conduct  the 
iron-works  begun  in  New  Jersey  a  little  over  a  century  ago. 
Two  of  the  families  settled  at  Macoupin,  Marion  and  Schulster, 
were  pious  Catholics,  from  Baden ;  and  their  descendants,  to  this 
day,  have  preserved  the  faith  and  devotion  of  their  ancestors, 
gaining  even  the  children  of  Protestant  fellow-emigrants,  so  as  to 
form  a  Catholic  colony  rcmai'kable  for  its  fervent  piety.     A  Rev. 


496 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Mr.  Langrey,  an  Irish  priest,  is  said  to  have  beeo  the  first  to  visit 
them  ;  but  the  venerable  Father  Ferdinand  Farmer,  distinguished 
in  Europe  as  an  astronomer  and  philosopher,  and  even  honored 
as  such  here,*  but  known  to  Catholics  by  his  devoted  labors  as 
an  humble  missionary,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  visit  New 
Jersey  regularly.  In  his  baptismal  register,  cited  by  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, we  find  him  oflSciating  at  Geiger's  in  1759,  Charlottenburg 
in  1769,  in  Morris  county,  at  Long  Pond,  and  Mount  Hope,  near 
Macoupin,  in  1776.  Indeed,  he  is  said  to  have  visited  Macoupin 
twice  a  year  for  a  considerable  period.  The  Revolution,  which 
made  New  Jersey  the  battle-field  between  the  contending  armies, 
interrupted  his  visits,  and  we  do  not  find  him  reappearing  till 
1785,  in  Sussex  county,  Ringwood  and  Hunterdon. 

Other  priests  also  visited  the  scattered  Catholics,  and  among 
these  are  mentioned  the  Rev.  Mr.  Malenx,  Rev.  Mr.  Katen,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Kresgel ;  the  last  named  a  German  priest,  who  was  at 
Macoupin  in  l775.f 

Except,  however,  the  Catholics  at  Macoupin,  no  traces  now  re- 
main of  those  scattered  through  the  State,  prior  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  schoolmaster  at  Mount  Holly  in  1762  was  an  Irish 
Catholic,  Thomas  McCurtain,  a  nephew  of  the  Gaelic  scholar ; 
but  he  removed  to  Philadelphia  after  the  war,  in  order  to  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  religion.J  Others,  doubtless,  did  the  same, 
and  swelled  the  congregations  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  century,  a  number  of  French  families 
from  St.  Domingo  and  other  parts  of  the  West  Indies  settled  in 
New  Jeraey,  at  various  points.     And  in  1806,  we  find  the  Rev. 


*  He  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  University,  and  a  member  of  the  Phil- 
osophical Society.    U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iv.  257. 

t  Campbell,  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  in  U.  S.  Catholic 
Magazine,  vi.  484.  N.  Y.  Freeman's  Journal,  1847.  Bishop  Bayley,  Brief 
Sketch,  p.  97. 

X  His  wife  was  a  convert,  and  the  writer  feels  pride  in  saying  that  not  one 
of  his  desoendants  has  ever  f^len  from  the  Churoh. — J.  O.  S. 


IN  THB  UNITED  STATES. 


497 


Phil- 

[Ifttliolic 
Brief 

bot  one 


Mr.  Tisseraut  living  at  Elizabethtown  with  a  colony  of  them.* 
lie  was  there,  however,  only  a  visitor,  which  was  the  more  to  be 
regretted,  as  Bishop  Cheverus,  in  recommending  Mrs.  Seton  to 
apply  to  him,  styles  Mr.  Tisseraut  a  most  amiable  and  respectable 
man,  equally  conspicuous  for  his  learning  and  piety. 

After  New  York  had  the  consolation  of  possessing  a  bishop, 
the  Rev.  Richard  Bulger,  who  was  ordained  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Connolly  in  1820,  was  stationed  at  Paterson,  and  during  his 
short  career  devoted  himself  with  great  fidelity  to  the  care  of  the 
Catholics  scattered  amid  a  most  bigoted  population.  In  the 
course  of  his  ministry,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bulger  was  often  exposed  to 
insult  and  hardship,  which  he  bore  with  patience  and  cheerful- 
ness, often  laughingly  recounting  his  own  mishaps.  Nor  was  his 
patience  denied  its  fruit.  The  present  Bishop  of  Newark  relates 
the  following  instance  in  which  a  conversion  repaid  humiliation, 
and  edifying  patience  was  a  lesson  of  truth  : 

"  Trudging  along  one  day  on  foot,  carrying  a  bundle  contain- 
ing his  vestments  and  breviary  under  his  arm,  he  was  overtaken 
by  a  farmer  and  his  wife  in  a  wagon.  The  farmer  invited  Mr. 
Bulger  to  ride  ;  but  it  having  come  out,  in  the  course  of  his  con- 
versation, that  he  was  a  priest,  the  wife  declared  that  he  should 
not  remain  in  the  wagon,  and  he  was  consequently  obliged  to  get 
out,  and  resume  his  journey  on  foot.  But  the  farmer  afteiwards 
applied  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bulger  for  instruction,  and  was  received 
into  the  Catholic  Church."f 

The  Church  of  Paterson  is  mentioned  in  the  Almanac  of 
1822  as  the  only  church  in  the  State,  Mr.  Bulger  being  the  pas- 
tor.]; His  zealous  career  was,  however,  terminated  by  a  prema- 
ture death  at  New  Yoi-k  in  November,  1824. 

As  part  of  the  State  was  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Philadel- 

*  Bishop  Bayley,  Britf  Sketch,  p.  51.    See  White's  Life  of  Mother  Setou, 
p.  171. 
t  Bp.  Bayley,  Brief  Sketch,  p.  75.         t  Laity  Directory  for  1822,  p.  105. 


r 


498 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


phia,  we  find  soon  after  clergymen  visiting  that  portion,  and 
establishing  stations  at  Pleasant  Mills  and  Trenton,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  visited  till  the  diocese  of  Newark  was  erected. 

Newark  had  a  pastor,  about  1830,  in  the  Rev.  Gregory  B. 
Pardow,  a  native  of  New  York,  whom  we  find,  in  1834,  the  only 
priest  actually  residing  in  New  Jersey.  The  next  year,  how- 
ever, he  was  succeeded  by  the  Very  Rev.  P.  Moran,  who  has  for 
more  than  twenty  years  labored  on  that  mission,  and  contributed 
most  essentially  to  the  progress  of  Catholicity,  many  of  the  in- 
stitutions, and  especially  the  Orphan  Asylum,  being  due  to  his 
zeal. 

Madison,  Jersey  City,  New  Brunswick,  and  Paterson  next  had 
resident  pastors;  and  in  1841,  the  devoted  Rev.  John  RafFeiner 
raised  a  German  church  at  Macoupin,  the  more  than  centenarian 
son  of  Mr.  Marion  assisting  at  the  ceremony.  Two  years  later, 
a  German  church  also  rose  at  Newark,  directed  by  the  Rev.  N. 
Balleis. 

On  assuming  the  direction  of  this  diocese,  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  found  in  the  State  thirty-three  churches  and  thirty  cler- 
gymen, with  an  orphan  asylum  at  Newark,  containing  fifty-one 
children,  guided  by  five  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  parish  schools 
attached  to  many  of  the  churches.  During  the  short  period  of 
his  incumbency,  he  has  erected  a  fine  cathedral,  founded  a  sec- 
ond Orphan  Asylum  at  Paterson,  and  is  about  to  open  at  Mad- 
ison, Setou  Hall  College,  an  institution  which  will  doubtless  soon 
rank  with  the  older  Catholic  colleges  of  the  Union. 


and 

con- 

)ryB. 

(i  only 
hovv- 
bas  for 
ributed 
the  in- 
;  to  his 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


499 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

1853,  1854. 

Mission  of  the  Nnndo,  the  Most  Eev.  Archbishop  Bedinl— His  arrival— Plot  of  the 
Italians— Their  slanders  — Refutation— Death  of  Sassi—Eeaction —Violence  of  the 
Germans— Result  of  his  mission. 

While  the  Holy  See  was  examining  with  its  usual  maturity 
the  suggestions  of  the  Plenary  Council  held  in  Baltimore  in  1852, 
it  was  resolved  to  testify  its  interest  in  the  American  Church,  by 
sending  one  of  its  representatives  to  bear  the  Apostolic  benedic- 
tion to  the  United  States.  Accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1852, 
the  Most  Rev.  Cajetan  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,*  Nuncio 
to  Brazil,  was  commissioned  to  visit  the  United  States,  in  order 
to  judge  of  the  state  of  Catholicity  in  that  vast  Republic ;  and 
we  may  say,  that  such  a  mission,  the  first  confided  to  an  envoy 
of  the  Holy  See  in  the  American  confederacy,  hao  inaugurated 
an  important  era,  of  which  the  future  will  develop  the  importance. 
This  mission  coincided  with  the  erection  often  new  episcopal  Sees ; 
and  marks  the  epoch  when  the  Church  in  the  United  States  be- 
held its  hierarchy  completed,  so  as  to  meet  the  progress  of  the 


*  The  Most  Eev.  Cajetan  Bedini  is  a  native  of  Eome,  and  was  for  many 
years  secretary  of  the  Prince,  now  Cardinal  Altieri,  Nuncio  at  the  Court  of 
Vienna.  From  the  ability  displayed  by  the  Abate  Bedini  here,  he  was  sent 
as  Internuncio  to  Rio  Janeiro,  where  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  diploma- 
tist, and  especially  for  his  noble  stand  in  fovor  of  some  German  immigrants, 
wliose  wrongs  found  an  ardent  sympathizer  in  the  Papal  envoy.  On  his 
return  to  Italy,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  government  of  Bologna  and  tlie 
tour  legations,  during  the  most  troubled  times.  His  ability  here  induced 
tlie  Holy  Father  to  raise  him  to  the  episcopal  dignity,  as  Archbishop  of 
Thebes,  and  appoint  him  Nuncio  to  Brazil. 


600 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


faith  and  the  incessant  increase  of  the  faithful.  Religion  in  the 
United  States  has  had  three  distinct  periods :  the  first  began  with 
the  missions  of  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland  and  New  France,  whether 
among  the  Indians  of  the  Chesapeake,  of  Maine,  New  York,  Il- 
linois, and  Michigan,  or  among  the  European  Catholics  of  Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania,  and  the  West.  The  second  period,  dating 
from  1790,  beholds  the  Holy  See  giving  a  centre  to  all  these 
scattered  missions,  by  the  erection  of  an  episcopal  See  at  Balti- 
more. Some  years  later,  the  United  States  became  an  ecclesias- 
tical province,  and  in  1808,  on  the  eve  of  being  torn  from  Rome 
and  dragged  into  captivity,  Pius  VII.,  extending  his  pastoral  solici- 
tude to  America,  founded  the  dioceses  of  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Bardstown.  These  new  Sees  had  multiplied 
in  1853  to  the  number  of  forty-one,  forming  seven  ecclesiastical 
provinces ;  and  with  this  expansion  of  the  episcopate  begins  the 
third  period — that  in  which  the  Holy  Father  chose  to  be  repre- 
sented directly,  or  at  least  temporarily,  amid  a  flourishing  Church, 
in  order  to  make  America  better  known  at  Rome,  and  also  to 
make  Rome  better  known  in  America. 

The  mission  of  Archbishop  Bedini  was,  as  we  say,  essentially 
temporary.  Was  it  desirable  for  the  good  of  religion  that  it 
should  be  followed  by  the  establishment  of  a  nunciature,  or  per- 
manent legation,  either  at  Washington  or  New  York  ?  We 
think  so,  and  still  retain  the  hope  that  circumstances  will  permit 
this  at  a  day  by  no  means  remote.  The  presence  of  an  envoy  of 
the  Holy  See  in  the  United  States  would  facilitate  extremely  the 
relations  of  the  episcopate  and  religious  communities  with  Rome. 
For  the  foundation  of  new  Sees,  for  inquiries  as  to  bishops  pro- 
posed, for  dispensations,  the  examination  of  Provincial  Councils, 
a  solution  would  be  more  speedily  obtained  by  the  presence  and 
intervention  of  this  pontifical  envoy.  But  the  Pope,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  is  the  head  of  the  Universal  Church,  is  temporal 
sovereign  of  a  European  State ;  and  hence  his  representatives,  in- 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


501 


trusted  with  the  interests  of  the  Church,  are  also  accredited  as 
ministers  to  the  governments  of  foreign  nations.  In  Europe, 
where  the  State  almost  universally  enters  into  the  sphere  of  re- 
ligious interests,  and  where  concordats  between  the  State  and 
the  Holy  See  regulate  the  relations  of  the  secular  and  ecclesias- 
tical powers,  such  a  union  of  functions  excites  no  surprise.  The 
United  States,  as  a  government,  is  expressly  debarred  from  in- 
terfering in  ecclesiastical  matters ;  by  the  very  words  of  the 
Constitution,  as  amended,  "  Congress  shall  pass  no  law  concern- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exer- 
eise  thereof."  Here,  therefore,  the  State  can  never  enter  into 
any  negotiations  with  the  Holy  See  for  the  purpose  of  drawing 
up  a  concordat  as  the  base  of  its  harmonious  legislation  in  eccle- 
siastical matters.  In  the  political  point  of  view,  however,  there 
exists  nothing  to  prevent  the  Holy  See  from  having  its  repre- 
sentative at  Washington,  as  the  United  States  actually  has  a 
Charge  d' Affaires  at  Rome.  The  frequent  visits  of  Americans 
to  Italy,  the  sometimes  prolonged  residence  there  of  prelates, 
clergymen,  students,  artists,  and  others,  and  even  the  emigration 
of  Italians  from  the  Papal  States  to  this  country,  all  justify  the 
residence  at  Washington  of  a  Nuncio  as  minister  or  charge  of 
His  Holiness. 

This  representative  may  or  may  not  be  the  depositary  of  pow- 
ers in  matters  ecclesiastical ;  but  this  is  a  matter  with  which  tho 
government  of  the  United  States  has,  and  can  have,  no  concern. 
If  the  resident  minister  at  Washington,  or  any  other,  is  invested 
with  the  powers  of  a  Nuncio  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  the  prin- 
ciple of  liberty  of  worship  would  protect  him  in  his  relations 
with  the  episcopate — relations  which  would  of  course  be  limited 
to  the  domain  of  religion. 

Catholics,  like  all  other  citizens  of  the  United  States,  have, 
by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  a  right  to  the  full  and  fair  en- 
joyment  of  their  religion,  and,  in  the    government   of  their 


t  > 


w 


502 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCh 


Church,  to  such  arrangements  and  dispositions  as  they  deem 
necessary.  No  American  will  deny  them  this  right,  or  take  um- 
brage at  it ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  agitations  caused  by  foreign  fa- 
natics, or  occasional  ebullitions  of  old  prejudice,  the  Americans, 
as  a  people,  have  never  shown  a  desire  to  molest  their  Catholic 
fellow-citizens  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion,  or  deprive 
them  of  social  equality. 

Among  Catholics,  opinions  may  differ  as  to  whether  the  epoch 
has  yet  come  when  the  residence  of  a  Nuncio  in  the  country  is 
called  for  by  the  wants  of  the  time,  or  whether  it  should  be  de- 
ferred for  a  season.     As  the  Holy  See  has  already  made  a  step 
towards  the  establishment  of  a  Nunciature,  we  have  expressed 
our  opinion,  or  rather  our  wish,  openly,  perfectly  aware  that  the 
matter  rests  with  the  Holy  See,  and  that,  in  whatever  action 
shall  be  taken,  thq  prelates  of  the  United  States  will  evince  not 
only  the  devoted  attachment  of  the  Bench  of  Bishops  to  the 
Chair  of  Peter,  but  the  no  less  cordial  attachment  of  the  clergy 
and  people  over  whom  they  preside ;  and  who,  divided  as  they 
may  be  from  each  other  by  origin,  language,  early  education, 
and  associations,  present  a  spectacle  almost  unparalleled  in  his- 
tory, of  union  among  themselves  in  religious  matters,  affectionate 
submission  to  their  pastors,  and  devotedness  to  the  Apostolic 
See.    There  is  an  instinct  of  self-preservation  in  the  Catholic  life 
which  makes  all  cleave  to  Rome  with  an  attachment  and  an 
ardor  as  strong  as  that  expressed  by  Fenelon  for  it  in  language 
borrowed  from  Scripture. 

Another  result  of  the  creation  of  which  we  are  examininof  the 
advantages,  would  be  to  exalt  the  character  of  religion  not  only 
in  the  minds  of  Protestants,  but  even  in  the  eyes  of  Catholics 
whose  faith  has  been  weakened  by  unhappy  circumstances.  Till 
these  later  times,  the  expansion  of  Catholicity  in  America  has 
encountered  an  obstacle  in  the  prejudice  which  viewed  it  as  the 
religion  of  the  servant  and  the  laborer.    The  Prqiestant 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


4)03 


deem 
LC  um- 
ign  fa- 
iricans, 
Jatbolic 
deprive 

lb  epoch 
)vintry  is 
Id  be  de- 
le a  step 
expressed 
)  thattk 
ifQV  action 
3vince  not 
ops  to  tlie 
the  clergy 
id  as  they 
education, 
^ed  in  his- 
affectionate 
e  Apostolic 
latholic  life 
lent  and  an 
in  language 


felt  himself  drawn  to  us,  had  to  overcome  human  respect ;  and 
while  his  kindred  would  have  had  no  objection  to  his  changing 
from  sect  to  sect,  and  from  Methodist,  for  example,  become  a 
Baptist,  or  vice  versa^  they  become  indignant  when  one  of  them, 
brought  humiliation  on  the  family  by  embracing  the  faith  of  the 
servant-girl  and  the  immigrant.     It  is  not  easy  to  form  an  idea 
how  many  of  our  separated  brethren  have  been  retained  in  mis- 
belief by  such  wretched  considerations.    Travelling  in  Europe 
has  had  its  influence  in  converting,  often  been  the  primary  cause ; 
and  we  have  been  told  by  come,  that  had  they  remained  at 
home,  they  should  probably  have  found  in  self-love  an  obstacle 
to  the  light  of  faith  ;  while  in  the  Old  World,  seeing  the  reli- 
gion practised  by  the  highest  classes  of  society,  they  discovered 
that  they  could  be  Catholics  without  ceasing  to  be  gentlemen. 
But  a  whole  nation  never  goes  abroad,  or  becomes  tourists,  as  a 
path  to  the  truth.     We  must,  then,  go  to  it,  and  give  high  hu- 
man ideas  of  our  Faith,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  its  recep- 
tion.    Now  the  presence  of  a  representative  of  the  Holy  See 
would,  it  seems  to  us,  prepare  the  way  for  &  fashionable  restora- 
tion of  Catholicity.     His  character  would  permit  him  to  mingle 
in  society,  or  have  receptions  in  his  salons.    Protestants  would 
there  meet  members  of  the  clergy,  whom  they  knew  only  by  cal- 
umny or  fanaticism.     Prejudices  would  disappear  in  this  inter- 
course ;    and  Americans  would  see  that  they  might,  without 
abasement,  embrace  a  religion  whose  head  delegated  such  emi- 
nent ambassadors.     Catholics,  on  their  side,  would  find  motives 
for  exalting  their  character ;  they  would  no  longer  think  of  apol- 
ogizing for  being  Catholics,  or  seeming  as  little  Catholic  as  pos- 
sible, for  fear  of  giving  their  Protestant  friends  a  low  idea  of 
their  intelligence  and  taste  ;  for  to  such  a  feeling  we  must,  it  is 
conceded,  ascribe  many  of  the  defections  which  occurred  in  past 
years. 
Moreover,  on  examining  the  efforts  of  infidelity  to  thwart  '^ 


504 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


temporary  mission  of  Archbishop  Bedini,  we  have  a  sure  means 
of  appreciating  its  impoitance.  Hell  is  crafty  in  its  enterprises, 
and  when  it  accumulates  falsehood,  calumny,  and  violence,  to 
.defeat  an  undertaking,  we  may  be  certain  that  it  dreads  to  see 
souls  wrested  from  its  empire.  Before  dispatching  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Thebes  on  his  mission,  the  Court  of  Rome,  with  its 
usual  prudence,  had  taken  the  precaution  of  sounding  Mr.  Lewis 
Cass,  the  Charg6  d' Affaires  of  the  United  States  at  the  Holy 
See.  The  oflBcial  reply  was,  thai  the  government  at  Washington 
would  behold  with  pleasure  the  mission  of  Archbishop  Bedini, 
and,  in  consequence,  that  prelate  set  out  for  New  Yc'c.  His 
arrival  at  first  gave  no  umbrage  to  the  American  Proiostants. 
After  a  short  stay  at  New#York,  Baltimore,  and  Philadelphia, 
the  Apostolic  envoy,  accompanied  by  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop 
Hughes,  proceeded  as  far  west  as  Milwaukie,  studying  with  the 
bishops  the  state  of  religion  in  these  dioceses,  visiting  the  con- 
vents and  colleges,  and  charming  all  who  approached  him  by  his 
lofty  views,  distinguished  manners,  and  courteous  address.  At 
Washington,  he  presented  to  President  Pierce  the  following  au- 
tograph letter  of  His  Holiness : 

"  Illustrious  and  honored  Sir,  Greeting  : 

"  As  our  venerable  brother,  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  accred- 
ited as  our  envoy  in  ordinary,  and  Nuncio  of  the  Apostolic  See 
near  the  Imperial  Court  of  Brazil,  has  been  directed  by  us  to 
visit  those  regions  (the  United  States),  we  have  at  the  same 
time  especially  charged  him  to  present  himself  in  our  name  be- 
fore your  Excellency,  and  to  deliver  into  your  hands  these  our 
letters,  together  with  many  salutations,  and  to  express  to  you,  in 
the  warmest  language,  the  sentiments  we  entertain  towards  you, 
which  he  will  testify.  We  take  it  for  granted  that  these  friendly 
demonstrations  on  our  part  will  be  agreeable  to  you ;  and  least 
of  all  do  we  doubt  but  that  the  aforesaid  venerable  brother,  a 


man  ei 

and  he 

your  E) 

Divine 

the  woi 

eamesflj 

lies  inha 

your  poT 

lency  wij 

requests, 

to  Almig 

honored  I 

upon  you 

perfect  ch 

"Given 

of  our  Po] 

"To  his  Ex 


narii  nostri  e 

sem  aulam  al 

ill  praeeipuis  i 

niat,  Tibique 

Dostrlin  te  ar 

"  Prooerto 

dubitamus,  q 

dotibus  ornat 

Et  qnoniam  i 

idcirco  baud 

Te  totis  viribu 

valido  Tuo  pi 

ai'tetn  confldii 

tionibus   perli 

Maximo  humi 


ife- 


IN   THE    UNITED  STATES. 


505 


man  eminently  distinguished  for  the  sterling  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart  which  characterize  him,  will  be  kindly  received  by 
your  Excellency.  And  inasmuch  as  we  have  been  intrusted  by 
Divine  commission  with  the  care  of  the  Lord's  flock  throughout 
the  world,  we  cannot  allow  this  opportunity  to  pass  without 
earnestly  entreating  you  to  extend  your  protection  to  the  Catho- 
lics inhabiting  those  regions,  and  to  shield  them  at  all  times  with 
your  power  and  authority.  Feeling  confident  that  your  Excel- 
lency will  very  willingly  accede  to  our  wishes,  and  grant  our 
requests,  we  shall  not  fail  to  offer  up  our  humble  supplications 
to  Almighty  God,  that  He  may  bestow  upon  you,  illustrious  and 
honored  Sir,  the  gift  of  His  heavenly  grace,  that  He  may  shower 
upon  you  every  kind  of  blessing,  and  unite  us  in  the  bonds  of 
perfect  charity. 

"Given  at  Rome,  in  the  Vatican,  March  31, 1853,  the  seventh 
of  our  Pontificate. 

"  Pius  IX.,  Pope. 
'•To  his  Excellency  the 

"  PaESISBNT  or  THE  UNITED  StATBS."* 


•  «  Pros  P  p.  IX. 
"  iLLVtrTRis  ET  HONosABiLis  Vnt,  Salxtteic  : 

*'  Cum  venerabilia  Frater  Cajetanus,  Archiepiacopus  Thebanornm  ad  ordi- 
narii  nostri  et  ApostolicGB  Sedis  Nuntii  munua  apud  Itnperialem  Brazilien- 
Bem  aulam  abeundnm  a  nobis  dosttnatus  per  istas  transeat.regionen,  eidem 
in  praecipuis  mandates  dedimus  ut  nostro  Nomine  Nobilitatenj  tuam  conve- 
niat,  Tibique  has  nostras  reddat  Litteras,  plurimam  fialatem  dicat  et  simul 
nostri  in  te  animi  sensus  luculentis  verbis  exprimat  atquo  testetur. 

"Prooerto  habemus  hseo  nostra  in  te  stadia  pergrata  tibi  fore,  ac  minime 
dubitamus,  quineundem  Venerabilem  Fratrem  egregiis  animi,  ingeniique 
dotibuB  ornatum  pro  eximia  tua  humanitate,  benignisaime  sis  excepturus. 
Et  quoniara  universi  Dominici  gregis  cura  nobis  divinitus  est  commissa, 
idcirco  baud  possumus  quin  hao  quoquo  occasione  libentissime  utontes,  a 
Te  totis  viribus  enixa  efflagitemus,  ut  Catholicos  in  istis  regionibua  degentea 
valido  Tuo  patrocinio  et  auctoritate  tegere  et  tueri  semper  velia.  Dum 
autein  confidiraus,  NobJlitatem  tuam  nostris  hisce  desideriis  ac  postula- 
tionibus  perlibenter  esse,  satisfacturam  baud  omittimus  a  Deo  optimo 
Maximo  humiliter  exposcere,  ut  Te,  Ulustris  et  Honorabilis  Vir,  coelojitis 

22 


506 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


It  might  have  been  expected  that  public  opinion  would  con* 
tinue  to  respect  a  person  of  eminence,  who  confined  himself  ex- 
clusively to  his  religious  and  pacific  sphere.     But,  as  we  have 
said,  the  spirit  of  falsehood,  alarmed  at  the  increase  of  the  legit- 
imate influence  of  Rome,  sought  to  oppose  it ;  and  for  this  work 
of  iniquity,  excited    some  Italian   refugees,  who   distinguished 
themselves  in  America  by  a  blind  hatred  of  the  religion  which 
is  the  glory  and  fortune  of  their  native  land.    Banished  from 
Italy,  which  their  momentary  reign  had  brought  to  the  verge  of 
ruin,  these  demagogues  sought  to  obtain  support  abroad  by  flat- 
tering Protestantism,  by  defaming  the  Papacy,  and  seeking  to 
destroy  the  faith  in  which  they  were  baptized.    Their  paper, 
L"* Eco  d^ Italia,  and  their  orator,  the  ex-Bamabite  friar  Gavazzi, 
undertook  to  alarm  the  Americans,  by  tales  of  the  perfidious  and 
ambitious  intrigues  of  Rome,  at  the  same  time  that  they  attacked 
the  Nuncio  in  person.     The  press  soon  repeated  the  calumnies 
of  the  Italians,  and  Gavazzi,  especially,  accused  the  prelate  of 
having  condemned  the  unfortunate  priest,  Ugo  Bassi,  an  ex-Bar- 
nabite,  and  oflScer  in  the  horde  of  Garibaldi,  who  was  seized  by 
the  Austrians  ia  1849,  during  the  flight  of  that  chieftain  of  the 
Condottieri.     Now  at  that  time.  Archbishop  Bedini,  although 
pro-legate  of  the  Pope  at  Bologna,  actually  exercised  no  authori- 
ty.   The  Austrians  were  masters  of  the  place,  and  Ugo  Bassi, 
who  had  but  too  well  deserved  his  fate,  was  put  to  death  by  the 
Austrian  forces,  without  any  act  of  the  pro-legate. 

Besides  this  calumny,  which  the  New  York  Express  complai- 
santly  echoed,  that  sheet  gave  the  list  of  fifty  pseudo-patriots 
shot,  it  averred,  by  the  orders  of  Archbishop  Bedini ;  and  sum- 


sn89  gratiee  donis,  omnique  vera  felicitatis  genere  cumulet,  ac  perfecta  nobia 
cum  caritatd  conjungat. 

"Datum  Bomee  apud  fcJ.  Petram  die  81  Martii,  anno  1853,  Pontiflcatus 
nostri  anno  septimo. 

'«  Pius  P.  P.  IX." 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


607 


moned  the  Catholics  to  produce  authentic  documents,  if  they 
wished  to  exculpate  the  Nuncio  from  all  participation  in  these 
executions. 

Would  it  have  become  the  dignity  of  the  noble  represent- 
ative of  the  Holy  See  to  descend  at  that  time  into  the  arena  of 
discussion,  and  allow  his  august  person  to  be  defended,  as  if  he 
were  an  arraigned  culprit  on  the  ground  where  the  perfidious 
Italians  sought  to  drag  him  ?  Doubtless  not ;  and  the  silence  of 
contempt  was  the  only  merited  reply  to  the  furious  blasphemies 
of  the  enemies  of  the  Papacy.  Still,  if  it  was  useless  and  undig- 
nified to  enter  into  a  justification  of  the  political  career  of  the 
Apostolic  Nuncio,  it  might  be  useful  to  confound  the  imposture 
of  the  Italian  Carbonari,  in  order  to  unmask  them  in  the  eyes  of 
the  honest  American  public.  This  easy  task  we  publicly  under- 
took to  perform,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1854,  and  we  now  fulfil 
our  promise.  If  any  one  is  surprised  at  our  delay  of  two  years, 
we  answer,  that  truth  can  wait,  because  it  is  eternal.  A  ven- 
erable authority  thought  justly,  that  it  was  better  to  let  the  pop- 
ular feeling  first  subside  :  then,  instead  of  producing  the  impor- 
tant documents  by  the  way  of  the  press,  it  was  preferable  to 
reserve  them  for  a  volume,  in  which  they  would  remain  an 
inexorable  monument,  and,  in  fact,  a  pillory  of  the  guilty  de- 
famers. 

We  prove,  then,  by  documents  extracted  from  the  official  ga- 
zette of  Bologna,  which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  that 
Archbishop  Bedini  neither  tortured  nor  put  to  death  the  patriots 
of  the  Four  Legations ;  for  the  Austrian  military  governor,  pro- 
claiming the  state  of  siege  on  the  iTth  of  May,  1849,  concen- 
trated in  himself  all  powers,  and  terminated  his  official  notifica- 
tion with  these  remarkable  words  : 

"  I  hope  that  this  exceptional  state  of  things  may  cease  in  a 
short  time,  through  the  good  conduct  and  good  sense  of  the  citi- 
zens, and  that  the  Envoy  of  His  Holiness,  appointed  to  represent 


i&M 


608 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


him,  may  soon  directly  and  fully  exercise  his  peaceful  mission  in 
your  midst." 

On  the  I'Zth  of  May  only,  the  city  of  Bologna  had  been  put 
in  the  state  of  siege ;  but,  by  a  notification  of  the  5th  of  June, 
this  exceptional  state  was  extended  to  the  Four  Legations,  and 
thus  annulled  the  edict  of  the  26th  of  March,  by  which  Arch- 
bishop Bedini,  when  he  first  entered  Bologna,  declared  the  civil 
and  criminal  courts  restored  to  the  free  and  full  exercise  of  their 
respective  functions.  With  the  procedure  and  sentences  of  these 
courts,  the  Apostolic  Commissary  had  no  power  to  interfere. 
The  will  of  the  Pontifical  envoy  was  to  restore  the  civil  laws  all 
their  sway ;  the  perversity  of  the  lawless  compelled  the  Austrian 
general  to  concentrate  all  powers  in  himself. 

The  question  de  jure  is  settled  by  these  documents.  The  ques- 
tion de  facto  receives  the  same  solution,  by  taking  up  the  names 
of  the  fifty  would-be  patriots,  said  to  have  been  put  to  death  by 
Archbishop  Bedini,  and  by  giving  the  official  record  of  the 
crime,  sentence,  and  death  of  each  one,  thus  showing  that,  in 
point  of  fact.  Archbishop  Bedini  had  nothing  to  do  with  their 
death.  The  official  documents  in  the  Appendix  will  also  show 
that  the  majority  of  these  martyrs  of  freedom  were  robbers  and 
bandits.  Does  this  deprive  them  of  the  title  of  Italian  patriots  I 
On  the  contrary,  the  hordes  of  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi  were  re- 
cruited among  the  scum  of  society.  May  this  lesson  teach 
Americans  whether  all  the  political  refugees  from  Europe  de- 
serve their  sympathy !  Because  in  the  United  States  the  Repub- 
lican form  of  government  is  justly  loved  by  all  the  citizens,  many 
would  view  in  every  European  republican  a  brother ;  but  can  they 
not  understand  that  the  best  form  of  government  for  a  country 
is  that  which  is  upheld  by  the  majority  of  the  people  ?  Go,  in 
Europe,  into  a  tavern,  gambling-house,  prison,  or  galley,  and  in- 
quire the  political  opinions  of  the  frequenters  and  inmates  of 
such  places :  all  will  tell  you  that  they  are  republicans,  per- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


509 


ion  in 

!n  put 

June, 
IS,  and 

Arch- 
ie civil 
)f  their 
)f  these 
iterfere. 
aws  all 
Austrian 

he  ques- 
e  names 
leath  by 
I   of  the 
that,  in 
lith  their 
so  show 
lers  and 
atriots  ? 
were  re- 
in teach 
•ope  de- 
Repuh- 
is,  many 
lean  they 
country 
Go,  in 
and  in- 
lates  of 
ms,  pel'- 


haps.  Frequent  the  saloon,  the  store,  the  shop,  the  academy, 
the  bench,  the  bar,  the  country :  you  will  find  all  professing  mo- 
narchical principles.  The  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  the  ambi- 
tious, who  flatter  the  lower  orders,  in  hopes  of  rising  and  ruling 
in  their  name.  • 

"We  also  give  in  the  Appendix  various  letters  which  prove  that 
the  Rev.  Ugo  Bassi  was  shot  at  the  Austrian  head-quarters,  and 
that  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  far  from  showing  indifference 
to  his  fate  or  memory,  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  both.  Ugo 
Bassi  died  in  the  most  edifying  sentiments  of  piety  and  repent- 
ance ;  he  wished  his  retractation  made  public ;  but  the  Austrians 
opposed  it ;  and  all  arguments  and  requests  were  lost  on  them. 
Their  censorship  was  inflexible.  We  have  procured  these  impor- 
tant documents  through  the  kind  offices  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cum- 
mings,  who  took  the  trouble  to  translate  them.  This  distinguish- 
ed clergyman,  who  rendered  important  services  to  the  Nuncio 
during  his  mission,  both  at  Washington  and  New  York,  could 
not  but  take  a  lively  interest  in  placing  him  in  a  true  light  be- 
fore the  American  people. 

The  Carbonari  lodges  of  Europe  had  sworn,  in  their  secret 
meetings,  to  defeat  the  mission  of  the  Most  Reverend  Archbishop 
of  Thebes.  Gavazzi  started  from  London  as  chief  of  the  plot, 
and  concerted  his  plans  with  the  confederates  in  America.  The 
Italian  apostates  soon  found  an  echo  in  fanaticism ;  and  the  most 
virulent  enemies  of  the  Papacy  soon  filled  the  press,  the  pulpit, 
and  the  rostrum  with  infamous  attacks  on  the  mild  and  pious 
prelate,  who  was  held  up  to  the  fury  of  the  masses  as  the  Roman 
hyena.  For  several  mouths  Gavazzi  dogged  every  step  of  Arch- 
bishop Bedini,  like  his  shadow  :  he  followed  the  Nuncio  to  every 
city ;  and  there  the  ex-monk  endeavored  to  create  scandal,  and 
initato  the  crowd,  by  vomiting  torrents  of  calumny  in  public  dis- 
courses on  the  venerable  object  of  his  hatred.  A  man  is  never 
held  up  to  the  vengeance  of  a  people  without  their  arising  as 


m 


610 


THE   CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


avengers.  In  the  summer  of  1853,  a  Sardinian  frigate  landed  at 
New  York  eighty-three  Italians,  recommending  them  to  the  hos- 
pitality of  Americans,  as  political  refugees  from  Rome  and  Lom- 
bardy ;  but  in  reality  there  were  among  the  number  criminals 
condemned,  for  various  ofiences,  to  transportation.  For  these 
men,  attacks  with  word  and  pen  on  the  Nuncio  soon  seemed  to 
legalize  a  crime  of  another  dye,  and  a  plot  was  formed  among 
them  to  assassinate  the  prelate.  However,  the  remorse  of  one  of 
the  conspirators  enabled  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  to  be  on  his 
guard.  Sassi,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  informed  the  Nuncio  of  the 
attempt  to  be  made  for  his  assassination ;  but  his  visits  to  the 
spot  where  the  envoy  of  His  Holiness  resided  had  not  been  un- 
observed. Sassi  was  stabbed  to  the  heart  at  night,  in  the  streets 
of  New  Yc^k.*  Before  expiring,  their  victim  made  revelations 
to  the  police,  and  also  to  the  Abbe  Cauvin,  a  priest  of  Nice,  who 
endeavors  to  enlighten  his  countrymen  with  a  zeal  which  nothing 
repels.  Mr.  Cauvin  applied  to  Archbishop  Bedini,  whom  the 
news  of  the  murder  surprised  in  Canada,  to  know  how  he  should 
act ;  and  the  touching  reply  of  the  worthy  representative  of  Pius 
IX.  was  as  follows : 

"Mjt  dear  Abb^  : 

"  I  beg  you  to  take  no  steps  on  my  behalf  with  the  authori- 
ties, as  to  the  affair  of  poor  Sassi.  It  is  not  in  the  least  ray 
desire  to  pursue  any  one  whomsoever,  with  the  sword  of  justice. 
My  life  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  far  more  than  in  those  of  men. 
My  ministry  is  one  of  peace  and  pardon,  and  my  heart  can  only 
love  those  who  hate  me. 

"  Continue  to  comfort  the  hearts  of  the  poor  Italians,  who, 


*  To  cover  the  plot,  the  guilty  and  their  favorera  endeavored  to  make 
Sassi's  death  a  private  quarrel ;  but  the  evidence  la  so  clear  as  to  preclude 
all  doubt.  Had  the  American  people  been  convinced  that  Sassi  had  been 
murdered  from  political  motives,  the  foreign  refugees  would  have  lost  all 
credit  in  a  moment ;  and  the  murderers  knew  this  well. 


IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 


511 


after  all,  cannot  but  be  ever  exasperated  by  the  sufferings  of 
exile.  Poor  people  !  they  are  indeed  to  be  pitied.  Rest  assured 
that  I  will  recommend  them  especially  to  God's  mercy ;  and, 
unable  to  extend  my  hand  to  relieve  them,  since  I  do  not  know 
them,  I  extend  it  gladly  over  them  to  bless  them  all — be  they 
who  they  may. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Abbe,  &c., 

"C.  Bedini, 
"Archbishop  of  Thebes, 

"  Apostolic  Nuncio. 
"St.  Htacinthb,  September  20tli,  1853." 

The  iniquity  of  a  controversy  which  puts  the  poniard  into  the 
hands  of  assassins,  and  the  contrast  between  these  diabolical  at- 
tacks and  so  much  mildness,  soon  opened  the  eyes  of  many 
Protestants,  who  had  at  first  been  misled  by  the  incessant  cal- 
umnies of  the  refugees.  A  remarkable  article  in  the  Courier 
and  Enquirer^  a  well  known  and  influential  journal  in  New 
York  (November  1),  was  the  signal  of  the  reaction.  The  politi- 
cal press  almost  all  took  up  the  defence  of  the  Nuncio ;  and 
then  it  was  that  the  Mayor  of  New  York  officially  invited  the 
representative  of  the  Holy  See  to  visit  the  public  establish- 
ments and  benevolent  institutions — an  honor  accorded  only 
to  the  most  eminent  guests  of  the  city.  This  excursion  took 
place  on  the  10th  of  November;  and  after  visiting  the  Institute 
for  the  Blind,  and  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  Orphan  Asy- 
lums, Schools  and  Hospitals,  the  Nuncio  sat  down  to  a  sumptuous 
banquet,  tendered  to  him  by  thie  Commissioners  of  Emigration, 
Everywhere  Archbishop  Bedini  charmed  the  authorities  of  the 
city,  and  the  many  tbrlorn  ones  whom  it  gathers  into  its  public 
institutions,  by  the  appositeness  of  his  remarks,  and  the  pro- 
found knowledge  displayed  by  his  questions ;  but,  above  all,  they 
jenthusiastically  applauded  the  phrase  by  which  he  closed  his 


612 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


thanks  to  the  assembly  for  drinking  his  health :  "  As  you  all  des- 
ignate the  Pope  by  the  name  of  Holy  Father,  let  us  hope  that  he 
may  one  day  call  you  all  his  children." 

During  this  period,  the  least  harassed  in  his  stay.  Archbishop 
Bedini  was  enabled  to  celebrate  the  most  solemn  and  most  in- 
teresting ceremonies  of  the  Catholic  worship,  in  order  to  corre- 
spond to  the  invitations  which  met  him  from  every  side.  Without 
regard  to  fatigue,  he  was  seen  in  turn  dedicating  cathedrals,  cele- 
brating ordinations,  giving  the  veil  to  religious,  receiving  the  ab- 
jurations of  Protestants,  opening  ecclesiastical  retreats,  presiding 
at  college  exhibitions,  visiting  convents  and  hospitals,  consoling  the 
sick,  and  blessing  the  orphans — everywhere  welcomed  as  an  envoy 
of  mercy,  and  everywhere  leaving  piety,  editlcation,  and  devoted- 
ness  to  the  Holy  See.  To  see  the  incomparable  dignity  which 
the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  brought  to  the  discharge  of  these 
diflFerent  functions,  priests  and  laity  conceived  the  highest  idea 
of  the  Roman  Court ;  and  the  faithful  in  America,  who  admired 
the  spectacle  of  so  much  pomp  united  to  so  much  piety,  asked 
themselves  what  must  be  the  august  majesty  of  the  Holy  Father, 
whose  ambassador  possessed  so  striking  a  reflection  of  it.  The 
grandest  ceremony  of  all  was  the  consecration  of  the  Bishops  of 
Burlington,  Brooklyn,  and  Newark,  which  took  place  in  the 
Cathedral,  at  New  York,  on  Sunday,  the  30th  of  October,  1853, 
by  the  hands  of  Archbishop  Bedini.  The  Catholics  of  America, 
ordinarily  habituated  to  a  religious  simplicity  required  by  the  pov- 
erty of  their  sanctuaries,  were  filled  with  enthusiasm  at  a  solem- 
nity which  gave  them  some  idea  of  the  brilliant  festivals  of 
Christian  Rome  :  they  admired  the  clear  accentuation  and  har- 
monious chant  of  the  Nuncio,  when  pronouncing  the  canonical 
interrogatories  and  the  magnificent  prayers  of  the  Episcopal 
consecration ;  they  followed  with  pious  curiosity  the  various 
ceremonies,  so  new  to  most  of  them ;  and  if  the  mission  of 
Archbishop  Bedini  had  had  no  other  result  than  the  deep  impres- 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


613 


sion  produced  by  the  majesty  with  which  he  maintained  the 
pomp  of  worship,  it  would  have  rendered  considerable  service  to 
religion. 

In  the  month  of  December,  the  Apostolic  Nuncio  set  out  to 
visit  the  Western  States,  stopping  in  the  principal  cities  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  especially  at  Pittsburg,  where  the  enthusiastic  wel- 
come of  the  Catholics  was  troubled  by  the  insults  of  some  fanat- 
ics. At  Cincinnati,  however,  these  acts  of  violence  assumed  a 
more  serious  character.  The  desperate  attacks  of  the  Italian 
refugees  had,  as  we  have  seen,  failed  to  excite  public  opinion 
against  the  venerable  object  of  their  hate.  Unable  to  arouse 
the  Americans,  the  Italians  called  upon  another  party  of  the 
socialist  immigration,  and  the  German  infidels,  more  numerous 
and  more  influential  than  the  Italians,  might  well  hope,  by  in- 
timidation, to  drive  out  the  Representative  of  the  Holy  See.  If 
we  term  them  infidels,  we  merely  give  them  a  name  which  they 
adopt  and  are  so  proud  of,  that  they  glory  in  what  others  would 
deem  an  insult.  The  political  emigration  of  the  last  few  years, 
and  Kossuth's  travels,  have  organized  these  Germans  into  a  fear- 
ful league  against  Catholicity  ;  but  the  introd  '3tion  of  the  Ger- 
man element  into  the  population  of  the  Unitea  States  dates  far 
back.  Ever  since  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  fer- 
ment of  that  amalgam  of  stubborn  thinking  nations  has  period- 
ically sent  its  portion  to  America.  Every  war,  every  treaty  that 
transmitted  a  province  from  one  sovereign  to  another,  the  sect 
that  believed  itself  persecuted,  or  that  which  lost  the  power 
of  persecuting,  sought  a  refuge  in  emigration ;  and  thus  the 
New  World  successively  received  the  descendants  of  the  fierce 
Hussites,  who  abandoned  Silesia ;  the  fragments  of  the  wild 
Anabaptists,  crushed  at  Munster,  but  ever  seeking  to  raise  their 
heads ;  or  else  the  Lutherans  of  the  Palatinate  and  Salzburg, 
unwilling  to  live  in  their  own  country  when  the  Catholic  wor- 
ship w  \s  tolerated  there.    From  all  these,  and  more  recent  emi- 

22* 


i 


514 


THE  CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


grations,  has  resulted  a  German  population  estimated  at  no  less 
than  four  millions. 

Thinking  men  have  long  dreaded  the  anaxcshy  menaced  by  the 
impious  audacity  of  a  part  of  these  Germans.  Their  hundred 
papers  are  almost  unanimous  in  their  socialist  and  even  atheistic 
tendency.  War  against  all  religions  in  general,  and  Catholicity 
,  in  particular,  is  the  motto  of  almost  all  these  gazettes,  which 
openly  preach  the  deification  of  the  creature,  and  the  satisfac- 
tion of  every  appetite,  of  every  passion.  This  poisoned  press 
was  now  to  undertake  to  excite  its  readers  against  the  Nuncio, 
in  order  to  bring  on  a  general  war  against  the  Catholics ;  and 
the  arrival  of  Archbishop  Bedini  at  Cincinnati  was  followed  by 
the  appearance  of  a  frightful  article  in  the  Hochwcechter,  a  Ger- 
man paper  in  that  city.  To  appreciate  this  bloody  polemic, 
traced  with  the  stiletto  of  the  assassin,  we  must  cite  a  few 
hues. 

After  calling  the  archbishop  a  murderer,  a  human  butcher,  a 
Patagonian  cannibal,  ofiering  in  sacrifice  the  tears  of  poverty, 
and  after  saying  that,  for  the  solemnity  of  Christmas,  the 
Church  prepares  horrible  and  bloody  mysteries,  the  journalist 
continues : 

"  What  name  shall  we  deserve,  if  the  butcher  of  Bologna  re- 
turn home  safe  and  sound,  and  leave  the  starry  Republic  full  of 
life,  his  body  untouched,  and  his  limbs  unbroken  ?  If  it  is  so, 
let  us  talk  no  more  of  the  power  of  ideas  of  liberty  to  conquer 
the  world ;  let  us  no  longer  exalt  the  valor  and  dignity  of  man ; 
let  us  keep  our  mouths  shut  and  our  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground. 
Posterity  will  spit  upon  our  cowardice,  and  will  feel  only  con- 
tempt and  disdain.  Whenever  the  opportunity  of  vengeance 
offers,  it  must  be  seized  at  once,  and  used  to  its  furthest  limit. 
Every  man  who  has  motives  to  exercise  his  vengeance,  should 
exercise  it  when  he  can.  The  sons  of  Italy  are  too  few  among 
us  to  punish  the  bloodhound  of  Bologna  for  his  dark  and  sp.  i- 


guinar 
and  lo\ 
pies :  c 
still  le! 
are  nur 
they  an 
not  disc 
heart  oi 
heits  Fr 
posed  to 
dred  anc 
covered 
fact,  thai 
Freund  i 
a  hyena, 
he  may 
minds  ar 
beast  of 
try.    Wl 
liberty. 
Republic 
a  monster 
reason  to 
This  sa 
and  the  n( 
after  the 
Germans  c 
of  the  Hoi. 
N'uncio. 
their  work 
^ute  tnen, 
disperse, 
which  eigl 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


515 


guinary  deeds.  The  Yankee  is  too  absorbed  in  his  speculations 
and  love  of  money  ;  the  Yankee  has  neither  feelings  nor  princi- 
ples :  do  not  trust  to  the  Yankee  for  your  vengeance.  Rely 
still  less  on  the  sons  of  Green  Erin,  the  vulgar  Irish.  They 
are  nurtured  in  ignorance  and  vulgarity ;  their  eyes  are  blind ; 
they  are  incapable  of  seeing  beyond  a  priest's  gown  ;  they  can- 
not discern  under  the  ross  and  the  rosary  the  heart  of  flint,  the 
heart  of  the  hyena  1  Germans,  you  are  the  elect.  The  Wahr- 
heits  Freund  (German  Catholic  Paper)  is  on  the  track ;  it  is  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  the  assassin  of  Ugo  Bassi,  and  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  other  patriots,  that  Bedini,  that  murderer, 
covered  with  opprobrium,  is  not  precisely  safe  among  us.  In 
fact,  that  sheet  is  not  wrong.  We  laugh  at  what  the  Wahrheits 
Freund  is  pleased  to  call  American  hospitality !  Who  will  suffer 
a  hyena,  a  tiger,  among  men  ?  Bedini  goes  about  seeking  whom 
he  may  devour.  He  thinks  but  of  murder — the  murder  of 
minds  and  ideas.  He  is  not  our  guest ;  he  is  a  thief;  he  is  a 
beast  of  prey,  plotting  the  destruction  of  the  peace  of  the  coun- 
try. Whoever  offers  him  hospitality  in  America  is  an  enemy  of 
liberty.  Such  is  Bedini.  Is  there  a  hospitable  roof  in  the  starry 
Republic  for  tigers  and  hyenas  ?  Is  there  no  ball,  no  dagger  for 
a  monster  never  equalled  on  earth  ?  The  Catholic  journal  has 
reason  to  tremble  for  Bedini's  life  in  Cincinnati." 

This  sanguinary  article  appeared  on  the  24th  of  December, 
and  the  next  day,  while  the  Nuncio  was  reposing  in  the  evening, 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  five  hundred 
Germans  of  the  Society  of  Freemen,  headed  by  Hassaurek,  editor 
of  the  HochwcBchter,  marched  to  the  temporary  residence  of  the* 
Nuncio.  They  were  armed,  and  carried  torches  to  light  them  in 
their  work.  The  police  were  on  the  alert,  and  a  hundred  reso- 
lute men,  stopping  the  march  of  the  rioters,  ordered  them  to 
disperse.  Firearms  were  discharged,  and  after  a  struggle  in 
which  eighteen  persons  fell,  the  Germans  took  flight,  leaving 


•  I 


516 


THE   CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


seventy  of  their  party  in  the  hands  of  the  police.  The  latter 
had  done  their  duty  nobly,  and  for  a  few  days  public  opinion 
rejoiced  at  their  energetic  suppression  of  the  riot.  But  the  Ger- 
mans soon  succeeded  in  awakening  to  a  ceitain  point  the  ever 
active  Protestant  fanaticism,  by  representing  themselves  as  vic- 
tims, and  their  defeat  as  a  triumph  of  Popery.  The  rioters  were 
accordingly  enlarged,  and  the  policemen  guilty  of  having  dona 
their  duty  were  arrested  or  broken  ;  and  the  Germans  then,  cer- 
tain of  impunity,  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  burning  the  Nuncio 
in  eflfigy,  amid  the  vociferations  of  impiety  and  wrath.  By  these 
menacing  demonstrations,  they  wished  to  alarm  the  Nuncio  ;  but 
the  courageous  prelate  was  not  shaken,  and  did  not  the  less  pro- 
long his  stay  in  Cincinnati  for  a  whole  week.  "  I  had  an- 
nounced," wrote  he,  "  that  I  would  bless  a  new  church,  and  I 
could  not  let  the  infidels  triumph  by  setting  out  before ;  more 
especially  as  the  German  Catholics,  who  are  very  numerous  at 
Cincinnati,  begged  me  to  visit  their  church  and  their  establish- 
ments. Thus  I  spent  the  week,  led  about  at  the  desire  of  these 
pious  faithful.  I  celebrated  Mass  in  some  German  churches,  I 
inspected  their  schools,  seminaries,  the  Jesuit  college,  and  sev- 
eral convents,  and  I  everywhere  received  the  most  satisfactory 
impressions  of  the  spirit  of  faith,  science,  and  charity  which 
reigns  in  these  remarkable  institution  i.  Oh  !  how  many  recip- 
rocal consolations !  how  many  blessing  given  and  received  with 
a  heart  moved,  but  trusting  in  Providence !  The  devil  must 
have  shuddered  at  these  holy  transports,  and  the  warm-hearted 
welcome  extended  to  the  representative  of  the  Holy  See." 

Thus  we  behold  this  prelate  never  turned  aside  from  his  mis- 
sion ;  and  when,  some  days  after,  a  riot  threatened  him  at  Wheel- 
ing; when  men  armed  with  swords  and  clubs  sought  as  the 
troop  led  by  Judas  sought  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Archbishop 
Bedini  will  not  think  of  himself;  he  will  think  only  of  the  grief 
of  the  Holy  Father,  Pope  Pins  IX.,  on  learning  the  outrages  of 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


617 


latter 

ipinion 

le  Ger- 

le  ever 
as  vic- 

rs  were 

ag  dona 

len,  cer- 
Nuncio 

By  these 

icio  •,  but 
leas  pro- 
had  an- 

•h,  and  1 

re',  TaoxQ 

nerous  at 
establish- 
of  these 

Ihurches,  1 

I  and  sev- 

jatisfactory 
^ty  which 
lany  recip- 
[eived  with 
ievil  must 
•m-hearted 

|m  his  mis- 
latWheel- 
|rht  as  the 
Archbishop 

Lf  the  grief 
(Utrages  of 


the  wicked.  "  They  again  amused  themselves  with  burning  me 
in  eflBgy,"  wrote  he  on  the  10th  of  January,  1864.  "  What  a 
mortification  it  will  be  to  the  Holy  Father,  as  it  is  to  all  good 
Catholics  here !"  We  must,  however,  repeat  our  declaration, 
that  these  manifestations  were  confined  to  the  circle  of  German 
infidels ;  and  to  the  close  the  Americans  were  spectators,  taking 
no  part.  But  in  the  United  States  a  fanatic  minority  can  keep 
up  a  long  agitation  under  the  cloak  of  liberty  of  worship,  liberty 
of  speech,  and  liberty  of  the  press.  The  electric  telegraph  was 
employed  by  the  conspirators  to  increase  and  spread  their  demon- 
strations, and  the  journals  of  the  Union  were  filled  with  dispatch- 
es announcing  that  in  such  a  city  a  rising  was  m  preparation 
against  the  Roman  hyena;  that  in  another  he  was  burnt  in 
effigy;  and  in  a  third,  they  had  broken  the  windows  of  the 
churches.  This  news  was  generally  false  or  exaggerated ;  but 
the  blow  was  struck,  and,  thanks  to  the  mania  for  imitation,  the 
month  of  January,  1854,  saw  groups  of  Germans  in  most  of  the 
cities  of  the  United  States  enjoying  the  satisfaction  of  burning  a 
mitred  figure,  amid  the  most  impious  shouts. 

After  the  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed  at  Cincinnati  and 
Wheeling,  the  Nuncio  returned  to  Washington,  where  he  enjoyed 
some  days'  repose ;  and  he  wrote  from  that  city  on  the  1 7th  of 
January,  "  I  here  enjoy  the  amiable  and  generous  hospitality  of 
the  French  Minister,  the  Count  de  Sartiges,  who  lavishes  every 
attention  upon  me ;  and  I  am  infinitely  happy  to  see  that  it  is 
always  France  that  upholds  the  dignity  of  religion  and  the  Holy 
See,  even  when  men  wished  to  humiliate  them.  This  morning  I 
received  a  most  touching  letter  from  the  most  distinguished 
CathoUcs  of  Baltimore.  These  gentlemen  inform  me  that  they 
will  come  to  Washington  to-morrow  with  their  families,  in  order 
to  show  to  the  representative  of  the  Holy  See  their  respects  and 
protestations  against  the  late  demonstrations.  Here  marks  of  at- 
tentions are  not  wanting  on  the  part  of  the  most  distinguished 


518 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHUBCH 


persons  of  the  country,  as  well  as  of  the  diplomatic  body,  and 
I  am  most  satisfied  with  my  stay.  The  reception  of  the  deputation 
from  Baltimore  will  take  place  at  the  French  embassy — another 
subject  of  just  pride  for  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  Church." 

But,  apart  from  marks  of  politeness  and  compliments  of  con- 
dolence, the  government  at  Washington  took  no  measures  to 
protect  the  person  of  the  Nuncio,  and  nothing  could  induce  it  to 
shake  oflF  its  indiflference.  They  took  refuge  behind  the  plea 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Thebes  was  Nuncio  only  to  Brazil ;  and 
as  the  dispatches  of  Mr.  Lewis  Cass,  Charg6  d' Affaires  of  the 
United  States  at  Rome,  mentioned  the  complimentary  mission  of 
the  prelate  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  these  dispatches 
were  carefully  lost,  and  to  all  the  demands  of  the  Senate,  Mr. 
Marcy's  answer  was,  that  they  could  not  be  found.*  In  presence 
of  this  pusillanimous  forgetfulness  of  international  duties,  the 
Senate  took  up  the  cause  of  right  and  justice,  and  the  23d 
of  January  was  spent  in  discussions  in  which  the  violence  of 
the  Germans  against  the  Nuncio  was  denounced,  and  the  per- 
sonal character  of  that  eminent  prelate  avenged  from  the  calum- 
nies heaped  on  his  head.  General  Cass  spoke  first,  and  after  him 
eight  other  Senators  successively  expressed  the  severest  censure 
on  the  turbulent  manifestations  of  European  refugees.  Only  one 
member  pretended  that  the  will  of  the  people  was  to  be  respected 
even  in  its  vagaries ;  but  we  must  say  that  it  was  the  Senator 
from  California ;  and  it  is  easy  to  feel  that,  for  an  envoy  from 
that  State,  scenes  of  disorder,  unless  attended  with  assassinations, 
seemed  not  worthy  of  repression. 


*  We  give  in  the  Appendix  Lewis  Cass's  dispatch  of  March  20,  1853, 
which  Marcy  could  not  find  for  the  Senate.  It  was  the  very  letter  the  Sen- 
ators wanted,  and  the  one  that  settled  the  question  mooted  as  to  Mon- 
seitrneur  Bedioi's  complimentary  mission.  We  alAO  publish  Mr.  Lewis 
Cass's  letter  to  Cardinal  Antonelli,  "  to  assure  his  Eminence  of  the  cordial 
reception  which  Monseigaeur  3edini  would  receive  from  the  governmeDt 
at  Washington,"  and  the  cardinal's  totter  to  Maroy. 


IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


519 


Tho  debates  in  the  Senate  attracted  much  attention,  and  hon- 
est men  of  all  parties  and  creeds  applauded  the  eloquent  mani- 
festation of  the  sentiments  of  the  country.  It  was  understood 
that  the  Nuncio  was  soon  to  start  for  Europe,  and  had  had  his 
final  audience  with  the  President.  Emissaries  of  the  secret  so- 
cieties tracked  his  steps  to  inform  the  conspirators,  and  get  up 
insulting  mobs  in  every  city  he  was  to  pass  through.  For  sev- 
eral weeks,  on  the  departure  of  every  steamer  for  Europe,  crowds 
of  Germans  flocked  to  the  whaif,  ready  to  rush  on  the  Nuncio 
as  soon  as  he  appeared.  These  tumultuous  scenes  were  re-enacted 
at  New  York  and  Boston,  and  everywhere,  the  telegraph  and  the 
reports  of  the  hostile  papers  increased  the  disorder,  and  increased 
a  hundred-fold  the  number  of  the  rioters,  in  order  to  alarm  the 
city  authorities,  and  banish  all  idea  of  repressing  riots  which 
were  represented  as  so  formidable.  This  conspiracy  of  falsehood 
was  not  unsuccessful,  and  the  mayors  of  several  cities,  even  those 
who  had  publicly  entertained  the  Nuncio  some  months  before, 
now  entreated  him  to  keep  himself  concealed,  and  shorten  his 
stay,  in  their  fear  at  the  prospect  of  a  riot  which  it  would  re- 
quire all  their  limited  forces  to  keep  in  check. 

But  the  unbridling  of  every  bad  passion  was  an  undeniable 
proof  of  the  good  realized  by  the  memorable  mission  of  Arch- 
bishop Bedini.  For  infidelity  and  socialibm,  the  Papacy  is  the 
great  enemy  to  combat.  As,  in  the  time  of  Voltaire,  the  cry 
was,  "We  must  crush  it,"  or  at  least  wound  it  in  America; 
for  six  months  they  employed  successively  falsehood,  calumny, 
menaces,  insults,  the  press,  the  pulpit,  the  riot,  and  the  dirk  of 
the  assassin.  These  machinations  sowed  with  thorns  the  painful 
way  of  the  mild  and  illustrious  Pontifical  envoy ;  but  on  leaving 
New  York,  he  nevertheless  bore  precious  consolations.  He  left 
the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  filled  with  admiration  of  his 
virtues  and  angelical  patience.  He  had  witnessed  their  attach- 
ment to  the  chair  of  Peter,  and  he  had  powerfully  contributed 


520 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


to  increase  it  in  their  hearts.  He  had  shown  the  divided  Prot- 
estants the  august  spectacle  of  unity  in  the  promptness  of  the 
hishops  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  honor  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Holy  See,  and  to  give  him  information  as  to 
their  respective  dioceses.  These  are  important  results,  which  still 
subsist,  now  that  the  clamors  of  impiety  have  died  away.* 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

1864-1856. 
Beaotion  against  the  Catholica— Organization  of  the  Know-Nothlngs. 

As  we  have  said,  the  Americans,  generally,  kept  aloof  from 
the  manifestations  against  the  Nuncio-apostolic,  as  the  Germans 
themselves  avowed.  Still,  Protestant  fanaticism,  dormant  since 
the  riots  of  1844,  was  aroused  by  the  anti-Catholic  ravings  of 
the  political  refugees  of  1848,  and  especially  by  the  envenomed 
preachings  of  Gavazzi ;  and  a  new  coalition  against  the  Catholics 


*  Archbishop  Bedini  had  engraved  at  New  York,  in  1854,  a  copy  of  the 
Madonna  of  Rimini,  iu  order  to  distribute  it  among  the  Catholics,  as  a  re- 
membrance of  his  mission,  and  to  increase  devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
Tliis  engraving  hud  the  following  inscription,  with  the  arma  of  the  uoble 
prelate : 

To  the  Catholics 
Of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
,  C.  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  Apostolic  Nuncio, 

Edified  and  Grateful, 

presents  this  picture 

of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  God. 

It  was  while  Archbishop  Bedini  was  pro-legate  at  Bologna  in  1850, 1851, 
that  the  Madonna  in  the  Church  of  Santa  Chiara,  at  Bimini,  several  timeii 
miraculously  moved  the  eyes. 


was  for 

niios  oi 

their  or 

and  the 

outrage 

well  thij 

since  th( 

no  fable. 

emancipi 

churches 

employ  n 

streets  an 
pocially  ( 
after  the 
alarm  is  j 
under  the 
hurries  to 
cils  for  th( 

In  the 
place  at  ] 
streets   of 
out,  but  ir 
who  recon 
gatherings, 
after  Sund 
the  CJiurcI 
who  assume 
Scotland  ai 
lowed  the  s 
became  the 
S^'ites;  and 
plaint,  they . 
P'lssions  exc 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


521 


was  formed  in  the  nhadea  of  iecret  oath-bound  clubs.  The  ene- 
mies of  religion,  known  ten  years  before  as  Native*,  now  gave 
their  organization  a  new  name,  without  changing  its  character ; 
and  the  Know-Nothings  soon  adopted  a  system  of  provocation  and 
outrage  against  the  Catholics.  The  name  they  chose  characterizes 
well  this  class  of  fanatics,  whose  ignorance  is  pitiable,  and  who, 
since  the  days  of  Luther,  have  learned  no  truths,  and  forgotten 
DO  fable.  They  still  seek  to  celebrate  by  acts  of  Vandalism  the 
emancipation  of  their  reason,  and  believe  that,  by  destroying 
churches,  they  will  destroy  Catholicity.  Their  first  plan  was  to 
employ  mad  preachers  to  declaim  against  Popery  in  the  public 
streets  and  squares,  in  hopes  of  provoking  the  Catholics,  and  es- 
pecially the  Irif»h  Catholics,  to  resent  their  insolence.  Then, 
after  the  precedent  of  1844,  they  rush  on  the  Catholics;  the 
alarm  is  given,  the  conspiratoi's  flock  together  from  all  sides, 
under  the  pretext  of  protecting  liberty  of  speech,  and  the  mob 
hurries  to  the  nearest  church,  already  marked  out  in  their  coun- 
oils  for  the  vengeance  of  in^ut^ . 

In  the  month  of  Dev  -mber,  1853,  tumultuous  meetings  took 
place  at  New  York,  in  consequence  of  the  preaching  in  the 
streets  of  a  porter  nfvmed  Parsons.  The  militia  were  called 
out,  but  in  constHjueuce  of  a  letter  from  Archbishop  Hughes, 
who  recommended  the  Catholics  to  keep  aloof  from  all  such 
gatherings,  no  collision  gratified  the  efforts  of  malice.  Sunday 
after  Sunday,  Parsons  thundered  away  against  the  Pope  and 
the  Church,  surrounded  by  an  armed  band.  Orr,  a  madman, 
who  assumed  the  name  of  the  Angel  Gabriel,  and  whose  path  in 
Scotland  and  Guiana  may  be  traced  in  fire  and  blood,  next  fol- 
lowed the  same  course  ;  and  ere  long  preaching  in  the  open  air 
became  the  order  of  the  day  in  the  principal  cities  of  the  United 
States ;  and  although  the  Catholics  bore  these  insults  without  com- 
plaint, they  did  not,  withal,  escape  being  frequently  the  victims  of 
passions  excited  by  their  enemies.     On  the  3d  of  July,  1854,  a 


sr  ft. 


PHfi 


622 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


furious  mob  nished  on  the  cburch  of  Manchester,  in  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  destroyed  it  from  top  to  bottom.  The  riot 
lasted  for  two  days,  and  all  the  houses  inhabited  by  Catholics 
suffered  more  or  less.  On  the  same  day,  and  in  the  same  State, 
the  church  of  Dorchester  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion,  the 
Know-Nothings  having  blown  it  up  with  powder.  On  the  8th 
of  July,  at  Bath,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  a  mob,  led  by  the  furi- 
ous Orr,  burst  in  the  church  doors ;  and  while  some  made  a  pile 
of  the  pulpit  and  altar,  others  climbed  the  steeple  and  tore  down 
the  cross.  Then  the  whole  chirch  was  reduced  to  ashes,  in  pres- 
ence of  a  considerable  crowd,  and  amid  the  exulting  cries  of  the 
sacrilegious  incendiaries.  A  year  after,  on  Sunday,  November 
18th,  1855,  the  Right  Rev.  David  W.  Bacon,  the  newly  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  Portland,  attempted  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a 
new  church  on  the  site  of  that  destroyed,  but  the  people  would 
not  permit  it ;  a  mob  took  possession  of  the  place,  overthrew  all 
that  had  been  prepared  for  the  ceremony,  broke  the  crosses,  and 
beat  all  who  showed  any  disapprobation  of  their  conduct. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1854,  the  German  church  at  New- 
ark, in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  was  demolished  in  broad  day- 
light, by  an  Orange  procession  from  New  York,  on  the  pretext 
that  a  pistol  had  been  fired  on  the  procession  from  a  window  in 
the  church.  The  assertion  was  entirely  destitute  of  foundation, 
as  all  the  independent  papers  admitted,  and  as  the  judicial  in- 
vestigation proved.  The  Socialist  paper  of  New  York,  the 
Tribune,  on  this  occasion  observed  justly,  "  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, that  while  five  or  six  Catholic  churches  iu  this  country 
have  been  destroyed  or  ruined  by  an  excited  populace,  not  a  sin- 
gle Protestant  church  can  be  pointed  out  which  Catholics  have 
even  thought  of  attacking." 

The  procession  was  armed,  and,  in  firing  on  the  spectators, 
killed  several ;  but  even  this  could  not  provoke  any  breach  of 
the  peace  on  the  part  of  the  Catholics. 


IN   THE   UNITED  STATES. 


523 


)tate  of 
he  riot 
itholics 
e  State, 
on,  the 
the  8tli 
he  furi- 
ie  a  pile 
re  down 
,  in  pres- 
38  of  the 
November 
ly  conse- 
itone  of  a 
pie  would 
rthrew  all 
osses,  and 

ct. 

at  New- 
.road  day- 
^e  pretext 
indow  in 
mndation, 
idicial  in- 
ork,  the 
•thy  of  re- 
19  country 
not  a  sin- 
lolics  have 

spectators, 
breach  of 


On  the  8th  of  November  in  the  same  year,  the  day  f  Aer  an 
election,  in  which  the  Know-Nothings  had  almost  everywhere 
triumphed,  the  latter  celebrated  their  victory  by  attacking  a 
Cathohc  church  at  Williamsburg,  near  New  York.  They  tore 
down  the  railing,  broke  in  the  doors,  and  carried  oflf  the  cross  in 
triumph  to  their  place  of  meeting.  Insult  to  the  symbol  of  our 
redemption,  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man,  is  indeed  the  noblest  of 
exploits  in  their  eyes.  The  military  arrived  just  as  they  were 
going  to  set  fire  to  the  church,  and  after  arresting  the  trustees 
and  such  Catholics  as  they  found,  protected  the  church  from 
ruin.  As  usual,  the  rioters  pretended  that  they  had  been  pro- 
voked by  the  Catholics,  and  that  they  Avished  to  avenge  the 
death  of  one  of  their  party  killed  during  the  election  ;  but  the 
inquest  proved  that  the  principal  author  of  the  troubles,  a  man 
named  Lee,  arrested  as  the  murderer,  was  an  Orangeman  spe- 
cially appointed  to  make  trouble. 

Thus  our  churches,  reared  at  the  expense  of  so  many  sacrifices 
and  liberal  alms,  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  first  miscreant ;  for  in 
not  one  single  instance  on  record  in  the  whole  United  States  of 
America  has  an  author  or  promoter  of  such  a  work  of  destruc- 
tion been  punished,  and  in  very  few  instances  has  even  the  mock- 
ery of  a  judicial  prosecution  been  adopted.  And  while  the  mob, 
unchecked  and  unpunished,  seeks  to  destroy  the  edifice,  the 
State  governments,  under  the  impulse  of  the  same  feeling,  pass 
laws  to  confiscate  all  the  property  held  by  the  Catholic  prelates 
and  clergy  for  pious  and  charitable  uses. 

But  the  fanaticism  is  not  content  with  destroying  the  church, 
or  seizing  the  property,  it  sought  also  to  intimidate  the  clergy ; 
and  two  events,  one  in  the  North  and  the  other  in  the  South,  ex- 
cited alarm  amid  the  Catholic  population. 

In  the  spring  of  1854,  Father  John  Bapst,  a  Jesuit,  and  pastor 
of  the  Catholics  at  Ellsworth  in  the  State  of  Maine,  asked  the 
schoolmasters  to  exempt  the  Catholic  children  from  reading  the 


524 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Protestant  version  of  the  Bible;  and  he  made  his  request  so 
mildly  that  the  teachers  conformed.  Tho  school-committee, 
however,  interfered,  and  ordered  the  teachers  to  make  the  Cath- 
olic children  read  the  Protestant  Bible  under  pain  of  expulsion. 
The  Catholics  appealed  to  the  competent  tribunal  to  establish 
their  rights,  and  this  step  so  exasperated  the  fanatics  against  Fa- 
ther Bapst,  that  the  town-meeting,  espousing  the  cause  of  the 
school-aommittee,  adopted  the  following  resolution,  inscribed  on 
the  records  of  the  town  on  the  8th  of  July,  1854 : 

"  Whereas  we  have  reasons  to  believe  that  we  are  indebted  to 
one  John  Bapst,  S.  J.,  Catholic  priest,  for  the  luxury  of  the  pres- 
ent lawsuit,  now  enjoyed  by  the  school-oonimittee  of  Ellsworth, 
therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  should  the  said  Bapst  be  found  again  on  Ells- 
worth soil,  we  manifest  our  gratitude  for  his  kindly  interference 
with  our  free  schools  and  attempts  to  banish  the  Bible  theretVoiii, 
by  procuring  for  him  and  trying  on  an  entire  suit  of  new  clothes, 
such  as  cannot  be  found  at  the  shop  of  any  tailor,  and  that  thus 
apparelled  he  be  presented  with  a  free  ticket  to  leave  Ellsworth 
upon  the  first  railroad  operation  that  may  go  into  effect." 

This  resolution,  welcomed  with  applause,  passed  without  a  dis- 
senting voice,  and  the  council,  far  from  blushing  at  the  act,  de- 
cided that  it  should  be  published  in  the  two  papers  of  the  place. 

Father  Bapst,  who  resides  at  Bangor,  went  to  Ellsworth  on 
Saturday,  the  14th  of  October,  to  celebrate  Mass  there  the  next 
day.  In  the  evening,  at  a  meeting  of  the  two  fire  companies  of 
Ellsworth,  it  was  proposed  and  adopted  to  put  in  execution  the 
resolution  of  the  council ;  and  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening 
the  mob  surrounded  the  house  of  Mr.  Kent,  whose  hospitality 
the  missionary  was  enjoying,  and  where  he  was  actually  hearing 
confessions.  Father  Bapst  was  dragged  out  of  the  house,  stripped 
of  his  clothes,  placed  on  a  rail,  and  borne  along  amid  the  traints 
and  insults  of  these  hellhounds,  till  the  rail  breaking  dashed  on 


the  groui 
naked  bo 
"Itwouh 
hoirible  b 
all  that  th 
and  bloodi 
outrage  la; 

When 
Bapst  ami 
alone  to  i 
himself  fro 
coverc '      i 
Mr.Ke', 
it  was  past 
celebrate  M 
rather  than 
ther  Bapst  s 
lent  nervous 
enabled  him 
celebrated   1i 
worth.f 

The  outrag 
States,  and  th 
tnown  author 
%  felt  that  tl 
father  Bapst  ( 
gor  made  up  j 

*  One  at  all  eve 
"■e  trc-ited  Jesus  ( 
+  Father  John 

""d^vas  brought,  i 
„  Society  of  Jeg 
l^  was  at  first  e 


IN  THE  UNITED   STATES. 


the  ground  the  victim  of  this  ""  "^^ 

«al<ed  body  with  melted  tar  and  rT'*^'^'"  ""^  """^'^^  his 
"It  would  be  in,po,sible;;r^:n?'''™'"'--'he«  left  him 

homble  blasphemies  and  ind'^ncil  Z^TT'-""  "'^"^  «''« 
all  that  the  imagination  <•..  """  *^"^^'«  "'nhf  but 

-db,oodahedlt::;;;;™o«  of  absolute  m1,tL^^^^^ 
o-fige  lasted  two  hours  a  It     •  I     ""P'""'  ^--^'^hes-    The 
„  When  his  assailan"  ;:  ;'t;r,  '''"''^.''''  "">  '^'"•'-" 
%»t  amid  the  mud,  raHn/  ,    T""*'"^  *'"' '««  father 
^'onetothehouseofiisCtand  ifrn  "^  ^'•''«^^<'  "imsel 
I'-nself  from  the  filth,  tar,  »d  fell      "■  .""^  """  '"  ''^''"''■'g 
«>'^^^  ■     ^-^  order  to  calm  hi!        ^  "'*  "'"'"'' ''«  •>»d  been 
*•«-    ^  -dhimto"i'L7!^  "'"  '"'^"■'^'"  -ff-»i 
«  "»  past  midnight  and  tLT         '  "'  »'  '^'^^ «  ''""k;  bm 
«'f-'e  Mass  of  S  ::',  ptfS??'- '"'"  '^  ^^    <> 
«her  than  break  his  faat.^'  ^gt ""    ^  .^"  *'"'  """"'"e  ""iret 
,«■-  Bapst  spent  the  rest  of  the  1^  ,      ."'""^  *'»''-•    F- 
'»t  nervous  agitation,  but  intb?  ^         'P''^'  ■"  "'^  "o^t  vio- 
»;Med  him  to  surmount  hssurn?'"'.  "'  l""'''^  ■"  "  P-'- 
:^-  Mass  before  the  h:^:str 'oSr  Xf.^ 

«««»  autho,.  of  this  ho,:L  wXt^'o  P^"--'^  *«  well. 

%felt  tbat  they  had  gone  too  far  ^'it  5"T''"'^-«'  S^"- 
P«*er  Bapst  of  his  watch  and  puL  Trt"""  ""^  ""'^^ 
^^aadeup  a  subscription  .»  off^tb  r'  ^""^"""«  of  Ban- 
— ______P^«^  offer  the  Jesuit  a  beautiful  gold 


^e  Was  a^  a    .     ^'  ^"^  remuined  till  is^s  ""^ ."'f^,    There  too  ho  entere  1 


526 


THE  CATHOLIO  CHURCH 


watch,  and  accompanied  the  present  with  an  address,  in  which 
they  eloquently  protested  against  the  conduct  of  the  people  of 
Ellsv    ith. 

Some  months  after,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1855,  another  Jesuit, 
Father  F.  Nashon,  was  assaulted  near  Mobile  and  violently  beat- 
en ;  and  he  was  told  that  he  should  meet  a  similar  treatment  as 
often  as  he  should  attempt  to  go  and  say  Mass  in  the  village  of 
Dog  River  Factory. 

We  do  not  make  the  leaders  of  the  Know-Nothing  party  re- 
sponsible for  all  the  crimes  of  which  we  have  only  given  those 
of  the  blackest  dye.  But  when  men  preach  fanaticism,  we  can- 
not be  astonished  at  their  exciting  such  hatred ;  if  the  wind  is 
sown,  the  whirlwind  must  be  reaped.  Ere  long  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  their  secret  organization  enabled  the  plotters  to 
think  that  legal  means  would  suffice  to  check  the  onward  march 
of  Catholicity.  The  elections  of  November,  1854,  had  sent  to 
the  State  Assemblies  many  members  of  the  new  party.  Their 
infuence  was  ii..mediately  felt,  and  in  the  month  of  March,  1855, 
the  New  York  Legislature  enacted,  as  we  have  elsewhere  shown, 
that  every  legacy  or  donation  for  pious  or  charitable  uses  should 
be  null  unless  made  to  a  body  of  trustees,  and  in  other  ways  em- 
barrassing the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy  in  carrying  out  the 
discipline  of  the  Church.  In  some  cases  the  State  absolutely 
cofiscated  the  property,  unless  the  Catholics  would  submit  to  be 
Protestantized  to  suit  the  caprice  of  ?  Calvinist  legislature. 

On  its  side,  the  Legislature  of  Masbachusetts,  which  was  made 
up  to  a  considerable  extent  of  Protestant  ministers,  appointed  a 
committee  to  inspect  the  interior  of  the  convents ;  but  the  infa- 
mous conduct  of  this  committee,  and  the  examinations  to  which 
it  led,  covered  with  opprobrium  the  instigators  of  this  inquisito- 
rial measure.  In  their  visit  to  a  house  of  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame, 
at  Roxbury,  the  members  of  the  committee  acted  with  the  gross- 
est indecency  ;  in  their  excursion  to  Lowell,  one  of  the  commit- 


wind  is 

pid  de- 

tters  to 

i  marcli 

,  sent  to 

,    Their 

h,  1855, 
shown, 
should 
rays  era- 
out  the 
)solutely 
flit  to  be 
•e. 

as  made 
lointed  a 
,he  infa- 
;o  which 
nquisito- 
Dame, 
le  gi'o^i^- 
I  commit' 


IN  THB  UNITED  STATES. 


627 


tee  was  accompanied  by  a  loose  woman,  whose  expenses  he 
charged  to  the  State ;  and  these  very  fair  samples  of  Massachu- 
setts guardians  of  public  morals,  going  to  see  whether  any  dis- 
orders existed  in  Catholic  convents,  themselvea  gave  every  ex- 
ample of  dishonesty  and  debauchery.  The  whole  Know-Nothing 
party  blushed  at  the  dishonor  they  had  drawn  upon  themselves, 
and  to  satisfy  the  public  clamor  expelled  Mr.  Hiss,  one  of  their 
members,  making  him  the  scapegoat. 

Early  in  June,  1856,  a  National  Convention  of  Know-Nothings 
met  at  Philadelphia,  and  after  stormy  debates  published  its  party 
profession  of  faith.  This  document  abounds  in  common-places, 
such  as  telling  us  that  oflSces  are  made  for  men,  not  men  for 
oflSces.    The  following  are  the  articles  which  concern  Catholics : 

"VIII.  Resistance  to  the  aggressive  policy  and  corrupting 
tendencies  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  our  country  by  the 
advancement  to  all  political  stations — executive,  legislative,  ju- 
dicial, or  diplomatic — of  those  only  who  do  not  hold  civil  alle- 
giance, directly  or  indirectly,  to  any  foreign  power,  whether  ec- 
clesiastical or  civil,  aud  who  are  Americans  by  birth,  education, 
and  training — thus  fulfilling  the  maxim,  '  Americans  only  shall 
govern  America.'  The  protection  of  all  citizens  in  the  legal  and 
proper  exercise  of  their  civil  and  religious  rights  and  privileges ; 
the  maintenance  of  the  right  of  every  man  to  full,  unrestrained, 
and  peaceful  enjoyment  of  his  own  religious  opinions  and  wor- 
ship, and  a  jealous  resistance  to  all  attempts  by  any  sect,  denom- 
ination, or  church  to  obtain  an  ascendency  over  any  other  in  the 
State,  by  means  of  any  special  privileges  or  exemptions,  by  a"y 
political  combination  of  its  members,  or  by  a  division  of  their 
civil  allegiance  with  any  foreign  power,  potentate,  or  ecclesiastic. 

"XL  The  education  of  the  youth  of  our  country  in  schools 
provided  by  the  State,  which  schools  shall  be  common  to  all, 
without  distinction  of  creed  or  party,  and  free  from  any  influence 
or  direction  of  a  denominational  or  partisan  character.     And  in- 


528 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


asmucli  as  Christianity,  by  the  constitutions  of  nearly  all  the 
States,  by  the  decisions  of  the  most  eminent  judicial  authoritiea, 
and  by  the  consent  of  the  people  of  America,  is  considered  an 
element  of  our  political  system,  and  as  the  Holy  Bible  is  at  once 
the  source  of  Christianity  and  the  depository  and  fountain  of  all 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  we  oppose  every  attempt  to  exclude 
it  from  the  schools  thus  established  in  the  States." 

The  articles  may  be  resumed  in  these  two  words :  "  In  the 
name  of  unfettered  liberty  of  worship,  Catholics  shall  be  excluded 
from  all  employments  and  their  children  shall  be  compelled  to 
frequent  schools  where  eveiy  effort  shall  be  used  to  make  them 
Protestants."  All  understand  that  the  Know-Nothings  do  not 
believe  that  the  Pope  in  any  way  requires  the  obedience  of  the 
Catholics  of  the  United  States  in  matters  of  state.  But  this  con- 
spiracy would  not  dare  to  doom  any  class  of  citizens  to  civil  in- 
capacity, if  it  could  not  by  some  pretext  treat  them  as  subjects 
of  a  foreign  power.  On  this  plea  Catholics  are  adjudged  to  be 
royalists,  whose  participation  in  the  public  oflBces  would  compro- 
mise the  safety  of  the  Republic ;  and  every  measure  of  hostility 
against  them,  far  from  being  a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  be- 
comes a  meritorious  action  in  defence  of  liberty !  On  such  prin- 
ciples, the  votary  of  the  most  degraded  sect  may  make  laws  for 
the  Republic ;  the  impostor  prophet  of  the  Mormons  may  be 
elected  President  and  transfer  his  seraglio  to  Washington,  but 
the  most  virtuous  Catholic  cannot  drive  a  hack. 

The  article  relative  to  education  presents  iio  less  contradiction 
than  that  which  begins  by  excluding  Catholics  from  office,  and 
closes  by  promising  to  protect  all  citizens  in  their  civil  and  re- 
ligious rights.  They  wish  to  compel  ail  children  to  frequent  the 
public  schools ;  they  declare  that  these  shall  have  no  religious 
character,  and  yet  they  insist  on  having  read  there,  what  is  called 
and  is,  the  Protestant  version  of  the  Bible,  a  version  rejected  by 
Catholics  as  mutilated  and  corrupt.  They  wish  to  cast  the  rising 


JN  THS  UNITED  STATES. 


529 


aU  the 
lovUies, 
ired  an 
at  once 
in  of  all 
exclude 

"In  the 
excluded 
ipellcd  to 
take  tbem 
igs  do  not 
Dce  of  the 
tt  this  con- 
to  civil  in- 
as  subjects 
idged  to  be 
lid  compro- 
of  hostility 
titutiou,  he- 
1  such  prin- 
ike  laws  for 
ons  may  be 
iiiBgton,  but 


generations  in  the  mould  of  the  State ;  they  hope  to  make  Protr 
estants,  hut  in  fact  they  rear  infidels. 

This  solicitude  for  the  Bible,  this  enthusiasm  for  public  schools, 
this  pretended  dread  of  the  usurpations  of  Rome,  had  been,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  pretext  of  the  native  movement  of  1844  ;  and 
to  complete  the  resemblance  of  the  two  epochs,  the  Louisville 
riots  are  a  companion-picture  to  those  of  Philadelphia.  Already 
had  the  St.  Louis  elections  of  1854,  closed  by  a  slaughter  of 
adopted  citizens ;  but  the  events  at  Louisville  were  still  more 
deplorable.  On  the  6th  of  August,  1855,  at  the  occasion  of  the 
elections,  the  Know-Nothings  rushed  on  the  Catholics,  many 
houses  were  burned  or  pillaged,  more  than  twenty  persons  per- 
ished, some  in  the  flames,  others  beneath  the  murderous  hand  of 
the  a.^  Hssin,  who  spared  not  even  women  or  children.  By  insin- 
nations  worse  than  open  calumny  the  party  papers  pretended 
that  the  Catholic  clergy,  and  even  the  Bishop,  excited  the  faith- 
ful to  acts  of  violence.  The  mob  advanced  on  the  Cathedral, 
threatening  to  set  it  on  fire,  under  pretence  that  the  Catholics 
had  amassed  arms  there.  At  this  juncture  Bishop  Spalding  con- 
fided the  keys  of  his  Cathedral  to  the  J  yor,  who  was  notoriously 
a  Enow-Nothing,  and  he,  alarmed  at  the  responsibility  thrown 
upon  him,  calmed  the  rioters. 

Such  is  the  great  anti-Catholic  movement  of  1855-6 ;  and  we 
see  how  fearfully  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  has  spread  within  the 
last  thirty  years,  fanned  by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  joint  insti- 

tors  of  religious  hatred.  The  destruction  of  the  Ursuline  con- 
vent at  Charlestown  in  1834  was  universally  condemned;  the 
culprits  were  arraigned  and  a  trial  conducted  with  considerable 
fairness,  although  the  jury  acquitted  the  offenders.  In  the  Na- 
tive movement  ten  years  later,  churches  and  private  dwellings 
were  destroyed  at  Philadelphia,  but  here  too  the  city  by  making 
good  the  loss  at  least  in  part  condemned  the  act,  as  it  had  sought 
by  troops  to  quell  the  riot.    But  when  after  the  lapse  of  another 

23 


i 


630 


THB  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


decade,  the  feeling  evinces  itself  by  overt  acts,  it  is  not  in  one 
place,  out  in  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  country ;  it  is 
in  the  mob  and  the  legislature ;   in  the  fire  company  and  the 
militia ;  in  tk^  bar  and  the  bench.     The  church  destroyed,  the 
priest  a  martyr,  the  Nuncio  of  His  Holiness  all  but  assassinated ; 
the  convent  violated ;  the  jury-box  peijured  to  acquit  the  guilty ; 
the  legislature  framing  laws  to  seize  the  Catholic  property ;  the 
general  government  officially  insulting  the  first  representative  of 
the  Holy  See ; — the  picture  is  a  sad  but  a  true  one.    As  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  who  as  the  Bishop  of  all  Catholic  Bishops, 
feels  for  his  persecuted  spiritual  children  and  cannot  address  the 
State  governments  which  have  no  external  existence  as  sovereign 
States,  he  well  addresses  to  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States,  in  the  person  of  the  President,  a  prayer  for  their  relief. 
"  Inasmuch  as  we  have  been  intrusted  by  Divine  commission  with 
the  care  of  the  Lord's  flock  throughout  the  world,  we  cannot  al- 
low this  opportunity  to  pass  without  earnestly  entreating  you  to 
extend  your  protection  *^o  the  Catholics  inhabiting  those  regions, 
and  to  shield  them  at  all  times  with  your  power  and  authority." 


■-i:. 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


531 


CONCLUSION. 


Ha',  ing  thus  brought  to  an  end  tliese  desultory  sketches  of  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  three  original 
dioceses  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York,  and  the  oth- 
er Sees  which  have  been  formed  from  them  since  the  creation  of 
the  latter,  we  cannot  conclude  without  a  ^jtrospect  on  the  field 
over  which  we  have  travelled,  and  a  glance  at  the  general  prog- 
ress of  Catholicity  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  portion  planted  by  France  and  Spain  the  faith  was  coe- 
val with  the  settlement,  and  Catholicity  at  St.  Augustine,  the 
Kennebec,  the  Chesapeake,  and  the  Mississippi  is  ancient  com- 
pared to  the  Protestantism  around  us.  But  those  colonies  were 
feeble,  and  form,  absorbed  into  the  Republic,  but  a  slight  element 
in  the  general  mass.  In  the  English  colonies  Catholicity  had  to 
struggle  for  existence ;  penal  laws  hung  over  the  clergy,  deprived 
the  laity  of  civil  rights,  and  even  of  social  equality,  reducing  him 
to  the  rank  of  the  negro  slave.  The  Revolution  began  in  a  ha- 
tred of  Catholicity,  which  tinged  the  early  acts  of  Congress  and 
gave  some  of  the  new  constitutions  the  leprosy  of  religious  intol- 
erance, eventuated  however  in  an  anomalous  state  of  affairs — a 
general  government  disavowing  any  interference  in  matters  of 
religion,  professing  to  treat  all  creeds  on  the  san.e  footing,  and  in 
our  day  actually  making  this  a  pretext  for  urging  European 
States  to  do  the  same — and  yet  concurrent  with  it  State  goverrt- 
ments  having  exclusive  authority  within  their  limits,  some  with 
State  churches,  others  with  disabling  laws  against  the  followers 
of  certain  doctrines,  laws  perpetuated  to  this  day. 


532 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 


Still  the  impulse  had  been  given ;  through  the  influence  of 
Catholic  France,  Catholicity  in  America  was  free.  In  what 
formed  the  United  States  in  1783  there  were  in  the  Atlantic 
colonies,  chiefly  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania,  about 
forty-five  thousand  Catholics ;  in  the  Northwest  and  in  Illinois 
ten  thousand  more.*  Louisiana,  since  admitted  nto  the  Union, 
had  then  a  population  of  fifteen  thousand  ;f  Florida,  Texas,J  New 
Mexico,  and  California  at  least  ten  thousand  more.  The  de- 
scendants of  these  widely  separated  Catholics  form  at  the  present 
day  one  portion  of  the  faithful  in  the  United  States,  and  if  they 
have  multiplied  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  rest  of  the  people, 
must  now  be  represented  by  660,000.§  j 

Another  source  of  addition  to  the  number  of  Catholics  has 
been  emigration,  first  from  Ireland  and  latterly  from  Germany; 
it  came  slowly  at  first,  but  for  some  years  became  a  tide  unpar- 
alleled in  history.  The  first  Irish  emigrants  were  chiefly  Prot- 
estants, the  later  however  Catholics,  while  the  Germans  are  about 
equally  divided.  The  churches  in  the  North  and  East  were  at 
first  almost  composed  of  Irish  Catholics ;  at  this  time  they  and 
their  descendants  form  the  mass  of  the  faithful.  Of  the  total 
immigration  and  its  increase,  one  half,  or  2,750,000,  may  be 


*  Including  Catholic  Indians  in  Maine,  New  York,  and  Ohio. 

+  Gayarr^. 

X  Texas  in  1778,  according  to  Father  Morfl,  contained  8108  bouIs. 

j  Malthus  supposes  a  people  to  quadruple  by  natural  propagation  in  90 
years ;  but  we  know  that  in  Canada  65,000  French  in  1763  are  now  repre- 
sented by  over  700,000,  which  is  more  than  decupling.  But  as  the  Americans 
are  less  prolific,  we  bave  taken  tieven  as  the  medium,  and  this  tallies  exactly 
with  the  present  population.  The  United  States  at  the  peace 
contained  three  millions,  which  septupled  would  give 21,000,000 

Emigration  has  since  given  three  and  a  hulf  millions,  but  as 
this  has  been  chiefly  within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  more 
than  thaViis  needed  to  double,  we  will  allow  for  its  increase  two 
millions, 5,500,000 

Population  of  the  United  States  in  1856  by  this  calculation, 

and  in  fact 20,500,000 


,  --^-.-.,^.  ,.,... -^r  ■  f-^T--;?'     V\    /■     -nrj-     ^- 


IN    THE    UNITKI)  8TATK8. 


533 


claimed  as  Catholic,  which  will  give  as  the  whole  number  of  the 
children  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  about  three  and  a 
half  millions,  which  is  the  cfitimato  actually  formed  by  the  illus- 
trious Archbishop  of  New  York  in  a  recent  lecture.* 

This  immigration  came  without  its  proportionate  number  of 
priests ;  many  of  the  immigrants  were  ignorant,  others  careless, 
others  in  time  ashamed  of  their  religion,  and  as  the  lecture  truly 
declares,  "  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  descendants  of  the  Cath- 
olic immigrants  have  fallen  away  from  th«^ir  religion." 

But  while  such  a  loss  took  place  when  churches  and  priests 
were  few ;  when  Catholic  schr  'ols,  academies,  and  colleges  were 
unknown ;  when  the  Protestant  poorhouse  or  asylum  was  the 
only  refuge  of  the  helpless  Catholic,  such  is  no  longer  the  case, 
except  in  the  densely  crowded  cities  of  the  Atlantic  shore.  Still 
Catholicity  lost  many  by  these  defections ;  and  the  calculations 
would  show  this  strikingly,  had  not  the  loss  of  some  been  made 
up,  as  it  ever  is  in  God's  providence,  by  the  vocation  of  others. 
Just  as  at  the  Reformation, 

"  India  repuir'd  half  Europe's  loss," 

80  in  the  United  States  in  many  ways,  by  his  duly  appointed 
ministers,  by  the  paths  of  learning  and  study,  by  the  unconscious 
layman,  nay  even  by  the  violence  of  the  en-^mies  of  the  Church, 
God  in  his  mercy  has  brought  many  to  the  faith.  These  con- 
versions, of  which  the  remarkable  ones  alone  are  chronicled,  have 
been  and  continue  to  be  very  numerous,  few  clergymen  on  the 
mission  being  deprived  of  the  consolation  of  receiving  some  eveiy 
year,  and  one  great  movement  having,  as  we  show,  given  to  the 
cause  of  truth  the  noblest  and  purest  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of 
the  Episcopal  Church. 


*  Present  Condition  and  Prospects  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States,  delivered  before  the  Young  Catholic's  Friend  Society  of  Baltimore, 
January  17, 1856. 


584 


THE  CATHOLIC  CBURCB 


Such  are  the  component  parts  of  the  Catholic  body  now  blend* 
ed  into  one  harmonious  whole. 

And  what  has  been  its  progress !  From  the  time  when  Fa- 
ther Carroll  as  newly  appointed  bishop  received  petitions  from 
his  Indian  children  in  Maine,  the  few  Catholics  at  Boston  and 
New  York,  the  French  at  Cahokia,  down  to  our  day,  when  seven 
archbishops  and  thirty-five  bishops  govern  the  wide-spread 
Church,  when  in  two  thousand  churches  and  stations  the  holy 
sacrifice  is  regularly  ofiered,  and  almost  overy  existing  religious 
order  in  the  Church  has  rommunities  here  ministering  to  the 
soul  and  body,  nursing  vocations  to  the  sanctuary  and  cloister 
amid  a  people  absorbed  above  all  others  in  the  cares  and  turmoil 
of  life. 

Catholicity  in  America  has  its  literature,  its  organs,  whose 
power  is  felt,  felt  so  much  that  it  is  all  on  the  part  of  the  Prot- 
estants carefully  avoided.  In  every  department  their  power  is 
acknowledged :  Brownson,  a  philosopher  of  extraordinary  abil- 
ity, has  for  years  in  his  Review  handled  every  question  of  vital 
interest  with  skilful  learning  and  the  depth  of  genius ;  Arch- 
bishops Kenrick  and  Hughes,  Bishops  England,  Spalding,  and 
O'Connor,  amid  their  liaborious  duties  have  defended  the 
Cathdlic  cause,  and  given  to  Catholic  doctrines  that  lucid 
explanation  which  leaves  the  maligner  no  ground  for  a  pre- 
text of  ignorance ;  while  the  Rev.  Doctors  White  and  Pise  in 
periodicals,  and  the  talented  converts  McMasters,  Huntington, 
Major,  Rosecrantz,  and  Chandler  in  the  editorial  chair,  have 
given  the  Catholics  able  organs  to  refute  the  calumnies  daily 
raised  against  them,  and  to  expose  mendacity  to  the  world. 
All  these  too,  and  others  whose  names  might  be  added,  by  le«- 
tures  in  various  parts  of  the  country  give  solid  instruction  and 
pleasing  entertainment,  which  is  evidently  appreciated. 

A  culminating  point  seems  to  have  arrived.  The  great  immi- 
gration has  ceased  for  a  time,  and  that  time  is  precious  to  organ* 


ize  and  i 

that  the 

merly  m 

"Whi 

"  what  is 

prospect 

dies  bor 

tages,  an 

country, 

is  that  C) 

of  their  i 

ceived,  ar 

will  exten 

the  momc 

&11  away 


IN  THK   UNITED  STATES. 


585 


ize  and  form  the  Catholic  congregations  already  existing,  and  see 
that  the  body  now  sustain  none  of  the  losses  which  poverty  for- 
merly made  unavoidable. 

"  What  then,"  asks  the  illustrious  Archbishop  of  New  York, 
"what  is  the  prospect  with  regard  to  the  Catholic  religion?  The 
prospect  is,  that  it  is  going  on  increasing  by  the  medium  of  Cath- 
olics bom  in  this  country.  The  prospect  with  superior  advan- 
tages, and  the  benefits  of  instruction  in  almost  evjry  part  of  the 
country,  and  the  presence  of  priests  looking  to  spiritual  interests, 
is  that  Catholics  will  instil  into  their  descendants  the  knowledge 
of  their  religion,  and  the  lessons  of  virtue  which  they  he  e  re- 
ceived, and  which  they  prize  more  than  life.  And  this  religion 
will  extend,  not  by  miraculous  means,  but  will  hold  its  own  from 
the  moment  that  immigration  diminishes.  It  will  not  h  ^w^  and 
&11  away  into  inciifference,  much  less  into  infidelity." 


BUL 


Whe 

to  the 

of our  J 

of  rulin, 

gaged,  i 

are  unit 

pastors, 

life  and 

vine  H8S 

precepts 

to  prom< 

advantaj 

checking 

heavenly 

carried  a 

Divine  r 

which  en 

able  faith 

manners, 

is  hurriec 

submit  th 

by  Jesus 

is  intrustc 

tion,  whic 

may  learn 

for  the  obi 


*  From  tt 
land,  and  of 
"91,  page  i: 


APPENDIX 


I. 

BULL  OF  HIS  HOLINESS  POPE  PIUS 

NEW  SEE  OF  BALTlMd" 

FOB  THE  PERPETDAL  MEMORY  OF  THE  Tj 

When,  fVom  the  eminence  of  our  apostolical  station,  we  ben? 
to  the  different  regions  of  the  earth,  in  order  to  fulfil,  to  the  utmos! 
of  our  power,  the  duty  which  our  Lord  has  imposed  upon  our  unworthiness, 
of  ruling  and  feeding  his  flock ;  our  care  and  solicitude  are  particularly  en- 
gaged, that  the  fuithful  of  Christ,  who,  dispersed  through  various  provinces, 
are  united  with  us  by  Catholic  communion,  may  be  governed  by  their  proper 
pastorn,  and  diligently  instructed  by  them  in  the  discipline  of  evangelical 
life  and  doctrine.  For  it  is  our  principle,  that  they,  who  relying  on  the  Di- 
vine assistance,  have  regulated  their  lives  and  manners,  agreeably  to  the 
precepts  of  Christian  wisdom,  ought  so  to  command  their  own  pasnions,  as 
to  promote,  by  the  pursuit  of  justice,  their  own  and  their  neighbor's  spiritual 
advantage ;  and  that  they,  who  have  received  from  their  bishops,  and,  by 
checking  the  intemperance  of  self-wisdom,  have  steadily  adhered  to  the 
heavenly  doctrine  delivered  by  Christ  to  the  Catliolic  Church,  should  not  be 
carried  away  by  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  but,  grounded  on  the  authority  of 
Divine  revelation,  should  reject  the  new  and  varying  doctrines  of  men, 
which  endanger  the  tranquillity  of  government — and  rest  in  the  unchange- 
able faith  of  the  Catholic  Church.  For  in  the  present  degeneracy  of  corrupt 
manners,  into  which  human  nature,  ever  resisting  the  sweet  yoke  of  Christ, 
is  hurried,  and  in  the  pride  of  talents  find  knowledge,  which  disdains  to 
submit  the  opinions  and  dreams  of  men  to  the  evangelical  truth  delivered 
by  Jesus  Christ,  support  must  be  given  by  that  heavenly  authority,  which 
is  intrusted  to  the  Catholic  Church,  as  to  a  steady  pillar  and  solid  founda- 
tion, which  shall  never  fail,  that  from  her  voice  and  instructions,  mankind 
may  learn  the  objects  of  their  faith  i.nd  the  rules  of  their  conduct,  not  only 
for  the  obtaining  of  eternal  salvation,  but  also  for  the  regulation  of  this  life 


*  From  the  Short  Account  of  the  estnblishment  of  the  new  See  ofBaltimore,  In  Mary- 
land,  and  of  consecrating  the  Kt  Rev.  John  Carroll  first  Bishop  thereot  Philadelphia, 
1791,  page  11. 


540 


APPENDIX. 


and  the  maintaining  of  concord  in  the  society  of  this  earthly  city.  Now  this 
charge  of  teaching  and  ruling,  first  given  to  the  apostles,  and  especially  to 
St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  the  apostles,  on  whom  alone  the  Church  is  built,  and 
to  whom  our  Lord  and  Redeemer  intrusted  the  feeding  of  his  himba  and  of 
his  sheep,  has  been  derived,  in  due  order  of  succession,  to  Bishops,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  Soman  Pontiflfs,  successors  of  St.  Peter  and  heirs  of  his  power 
and  dignity,  that  thereby  it  might  be  made  evident,  that  the  gates  of  hell 
can  never  prevail  against  the  Church,  and  that  the  Divine  Founder  of  it  will 
ever  assist  it  to  the  consummation  of  ages,  so  that  neither  in  the  depravity 
of  morals,  nor  in  the  fluctuation  of  novel  opinion3,  the  episcopal  succession 
sha'l  over  fail,  or  the  bark'  of  Peter  be  sunk.  Wherefore  it  having  reached 
our  ears,  that  in  the  floyirishing  commonwealth  of  the  Thirteen  American 
States,  many  faithful  Christians,  united  in  communion  with  the  chair  of  Pe- 
ter, in  whicn  the  c^nt^e  of  Catholic  unity  is  fi.\ed,  and  governed  in  their 
spiritual  concerns'by^heir  own  priests  having  care  of  souls,  earnestly  desire 
sthjt;  a  Bisl^p*  fnay'be  appointed  over  them,  to  exercise  the  functions  of  epis- 
copal order,  to  feed  the^  more  largely  with  the  food  of  salutary  doctrine, 
iCfid'  to  guard  more  carefully  that  portion  of  the  Catholic  flock  ;  we  willingly 
embraced  this  opportunity,  which  the  grace  of  Almighty  God  has  afforded 
us,  to  provide  those  distant  regions  with  the  comfort  and  ministry  of  a 
Catholic  Bishop.  And  that  this  might  be  effected  mire  successfully  and  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  the  sacred  canons,  we  commissioned  our  venerable 
brethren,  the  Cardinals  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  directors  of  the  Congre- 
gation de  propaganda  fide,  to  manage  tliis  business  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  to  make  a  report  to  us.  It  was  therefore  appointed  by  their  decree,  ap- 
proved by  us,  and  published  the  twelfth  day  of  July,  of  the  last  year,  that 
the  priests  who  lawfully  exercise  the  sacred  ministry,  and  have  care  of  soula, 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  should  be  empowered  to  advise  together, 
and  to  determine,  first,  in  what  town  the  episcopal  See  ought  to  be  erected; 
and  next,  who  of  the  aforesaid  priests  appeared  the  most  worthy  and  proper 
to  be  promoted  to  this  important  charge,  wiiom  we,  for  this  first  time  only, 
and  by  special  grace,  permitted  the  said  priests  to  elect  and  to  present  to 
this  apostolical  See.  In  obedience  to  this  decree,  the  aforesaid  priests,  exer- 
cising the  cure  of  souls,  in  the  United  States  of  America,  unanimously 
agreed,  that  a  Bishop  with  ordinary  jurisdiction  ought  to  be  established  in 
the  town  of  Baltimore  ;  because  this  town,  situate  in  Maryland,  which  prov- 
ince the  greater  part  of  the  priests  and  of  the  faithful  inhabit,  appeared  the 
most  conveniently  placed  for  intercourse  with  the  other  States,  and  because 
from  this  province  Catholic  relig'on  and  faith  had  been  propagated  into  the 
others.  And  at  the  time  appointed  for  the  election,  they  being  assembled 
together,  the  sacrifice  of  holy  mass  being  celebrated,  and  the  grace  and  as- 
sistance of  the  Holy  Ghost  being  implored,  the  votes  v.^  all  present  were  ta- 
ken, and  of  twenty-six  priests  who  were  assembled,  twenty-four  gave  their 
votes  for  our  beloved  son  John  Carroll,  whom  they  judged  the  most  proper 
to  support  the  burden  of  episcopacy;  and  sent  an  authentic  instrument  of 
the  whole  transaction  to  the  aforesaid  Congregation  of  Cardinals.  Now  all 
tilings  being  maturely  weighed  and  considered  in  this  Congregation,  it  was 


APPENDIX. 


541 


this 
lyto 
and 
:id  of 
d  es- 
•ower 
f  hell 
it  will 
ravity 
essioii 
jacV.ed 
lerican 
of  Pe- 
ri their 
r  desire 
of  epis- 
octrine, 

/lUingly 

afforded 

try  of  a 

r  and  ac- 

enerable 

I  Congre- 

test  care, 

icree,  ap- 
ear,  that 
of  souis, 

together, 
erected ; 
id  proper 

gillie  only, 
ireaent  to 
ists,  exer- 
Lnimonsly 
jlished  in 
[lich  prov- 
,eared  the 
U  because 
d  into  the 
Lssembled 
,co  and  as- 
i\,  were  ta- 
Igave  their 
lost  proper 
;ruuicnt  of 
Now  all 
•ion,  It  wiw 


easily  agreed,  that  the  interests  and  increase  of  Catholic  religion  would  be 
greatly't^romoted,  if  an  episcopal  See  were  erected  at  Baltimore,  and  the  said 
John  Crrroll  were  appointed  the  Bishop  of  it.  We,  therefore  (to  whom  this 
opinion  has  been  reported  by  our  belovod  son,  Cardinal  Antonelli,  prefect  of 
the  said  Congregation,  having  nothing  more  at  heart,  than  to  insure  sufjcess 
to  wliatever  tends  to  the  propagation  of  true  religion  and  to  the  honor  and 
increase  of  the  Catholic  Church),  by  the  plenitude  of  our  apostolical  power, 
and  by  the  tenor  of  these  presents,  do  establish  and  erect  the  aforesaid  town 
of  Baltimore  into  an  episcopal  See  forever,  for  one  Bishop  to  be  chosen  by 
us  in  all  future  vacancies;  and  we  therefore,  by  the  apostolical  authority 
af:>resaid,  do  allow,  grant,  and  permit  to  the  Bishop  of  the  said  city,  and  to 
his  successors  in  all  future  times,  to  exercise  episcopal  power  and  jurisdic- 
tion, and  to  hold  and  enjoy  all  and  every  right  and  privilege  of  order  and 
jurisdiction,  and  of  every  other  episcopal  function,  which  Bishops,  constitu- 
ted in  other  places,  are  empowered  to  hold  and  enjoy  in  their  respective 
churches,  cities,  and  dioceses,  by  right,  custom,  or  by  other  means,  by  gen- 
eral privileges,  graces,  indults,  and  apostolical  dispensations,  together  with 
all  pre-eminences,  honors,  immunities,  graces,  and  favors,  which  other  Ca- 
thedral Churches,  by  right  or  custom,  or  in  any  other  sort,  have,  hold,  and 
enjoy.  We  moreover  decree  and  declare  the  said  episcopal  See,  thus  erect- 
ed, to  be  subject  or  suffragan  to  no  metropolitan  right  or  jurisdiction,  Lut  to 
bo  forever  subject  immediately  to  us  and  to  our  successors  the  £omun  Pon- 
tiffs, and  to  this  apostolical  See.  And  till  another  opportunity  shall  be  pre- 
sented to  us,  of  establishing  other  Catholic  Bishops  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  till  other  dispositions  shall  be  made  by  this  apostolical  See,  we 
declare,  by  our  apostolical  authority,  all  the  faithful  of  Christ,  living  in 
Catholic  communion,  as  well  ecclesiastics  as  seculars,  and  all  the  clergy  and 
people  dwelling  in  the  aforesaid  United  States  of  America,  though  hitherto 
they  may  have  been  subject  to  other  Bishops  of  other  dioceses,  to  be  hence- 
forward subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  in  all  future  times  :  and  to  this 
Bishop,  and  to  his  successors,  we  impart  power  to  curb  and  check,  without 
appeal,  all  persons  who  may  contradict  or  oppose  iheir  orders ;  to  visit  per- 
sonally or  by  deputies  all  Catholic  churches ;  to  remove  abuses ;  to  correct 
the  manners  of  the  faithful;  and  to  perform  all  things,  which  other  Bishops 
in  their  respective  dioceses  are  accustomed  to  do  and  perfor'  saving  in  all 
things  our  own  authority,  and  that  of  this  apostolical  See.  .\nd,  whereas, 
by  special  grant,  and  for  this  first  time  only,  we  have  allowed  the  priests, 
exercising  the  euro  of  souls  in  the  United  States  of  America,  to  elect  a  person 
to  be  appointed  Bishop  by  us,  and  almost  all  their  votes  have  been  given  to 
our  beloved  son,  John  Carroll,  Priest;  we  being  otherwise  certified  of  h:3 
fiiith,  prudence,  piety,  and  zeal,  for«  .  ;icli  as  by  our  mandate  he  hath  du- 
ring the  late  years  directed  the  spiritual  government  '  f  soulSj  do  therefore 
by  the  plenitude  of  our  authority,  declare,  create,  appoint,  and  constitute 
the  said  John  Corroll,  Bishop  and  pastor  of  the  said  church  of  Baltimore, 
granting  to  him  the  faculty  of  receiving  tb*^  rite  of  consecration  from  any 
Catholic  Bishop  holding  communion  with  the  apostolical  See,  assisted  by 
two  ecclesiastics,  vested  with  some  dignity,  in  case  that  two  Bishops  cannot 


*: 


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542 


APPENDIX. 


be  had,  first  having  taken  the  usual  oath,  according  to  the  Soman  Pontifical. 
And  we  commission  the  said  Bishop  elect,  to  erect  a  chnrcli  In  div^i  stiid  city 
of  Baltimore,  in  form  of  a  Csithedral  church,  inasmuch  as  tlie  dines  uad  cir 
oamstances  may  allow,  to  i!»i\titute  a  body  of  clergy  depuicj.  tc'  D'^irie  wor- 
ship, and  to  the  service  of  the  said  church,  and  moreover  to  rit>tablif.I.  an 
episcopal  seminary  .;  f.her  in  the  same  city  or  elserhere,  na  hfl  eici.i'-  jn -l-o 
most  expedient,  to  administer  ecclesiastical  income.-,  and  t*.  execute  all  oliicr 
things,  which  he  shall  think  iu  the  Lord  to  be  expodient  fc  '  he  increase  of 
Catholio  faith  and  the  augiri',otfl.tion  of  fl(.>  worship  and  splendor  of  the 
iiew-erected  church.  We  more'>v.?r  enjoin  M.ci  said  Bishop  to  obey  the  in- 
junctions of  our  venerable  bri.lhian,  the  cardinals  directors  of  the  Bacred 
congregation  de  propaganda  fid-e,  to  transmit  to  thci;i,  at  j ,  oper  timet,  a  n;- 
kuon  of  his  visitation  of  his  church,  and  to  iiiibrm  them  of  ail  thin^ti  ^hicli 
be  shall  j'-id^o  to  bo  ,  seful  to  the  spiritual  good  and  laivation  oJ  tb  ook 
trustad  t*>  <i\h  oharge.  We  thoolbre  decree,  that  ■.h&m  onr  lett'^rs  art  and 
ev<sr  BliaU  V .-.  firm,  valid,  and  eflacficlous,  and  shall  obtain  their  full  and  en- 
tire eji'ect,  «;U'l  be  .  I  .reived  ir-vjolably  by  all  persons  whom  it  now  doth  or 
here<^.i:V«r  may  v^oBC'ira  :  and  thiit  all  judges,  ordinary  and  delegated,  even 
Riiditortj  of  Ciiusrifci  uf  the  esored  apostolical  palace,  and  cardinals  of  the  Holy 
Boiiis.n  Ci.\urcii..  mutit  thu.j  judge  and  define,  depriving  all  and  each  of  them 
of  ah  povver  and  aathority  to  judge  or  interpret  in  any  other  manner,  and 
declujiug  all  to  be  null  and  void,  if  any  one,  by  any  authority,  should  pre- 
suraCj  either  knowingly  or  uoknowingly,  to  attempt  any  thing  contrary 
there  into.  Notwithstanding  all  apostolical,  general,  or  special  constitutions 
and  ordinations,  published  In  universal,  provincial,  and  synodical  councils, 
and  all  itiugs  contmry  whatsoever. 

Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Mary  Major,  under  the  Fisherriian's  Eing  (Seal), 
the  6th  day  of  Nc'amber,  1789,  and  in  the  15th  ^aar  of  our  Pon- 
tificate. 

DHPLIOATB. 

[L.S.3 

B.  CARD.  BRASCHI  ONESTL 


IT. 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  1791— FATHERS  OF  THE  PROVIN- 
CIAL AND  PLENAR-S  COUNCILS. 

NOTES    ON   THE    MEMBER 8    OF   THE    SYNOP    •>!    1791. 

James  Pellentz,  S.  J.,  V.  G.  for  the  whole  diocese,  bom  '■.■..     irmany,  January 

19,  1727,  professed  in  1756. 
James  Frambach.        T.,  bom  in  Qertuany,  Jau^  u~v       i728,  professed  in 

1760,  died  Aug         796. 
Robert  Mcdyaenz, 8.  J.,  V.  G.  of  the  Southern  Wim-  •    »om  at  Fo'rnby,  Lan- 


APPENDIX. 


548 


oashire,  June  24, 1788,  professed  November,  1767,  died  at  Georgetown, 
December  9, 1808. 

Francis  Anthony  Fleming,  V.  G.  of  the  Northern  District. 

Francis  Charles  Nagot,  President  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice. 

John  Ashton,  S.  J.,  born  in  Maryland,  May  24, 1748,  first  on  the  mission  in 
Yorkshire,  died  in  1814. 

Leonard  Neale,  S.  J. 

Charles  Sawall,  S.  J.,  bom  in  Maryland,  July  4, 1744,  sent  to  St.  Omers  in 
1758,  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1764,  died  November  10,  1806. 

Sylvester  Boarman,  born  in  Maryland,  entered  the  Society  in  1762.  '*  With- 
out much  pretension  to  talents,  he  showed  himself  a  diligent  and  pre- 
cious missionary  in  his  native  land,  where  God  called  him  to  Himself  in 
1797." 

WiUiam  Elling. 

James  Vanhutffel. 

Robert  Plunket,  S.  J.,  bom  in  England,  April  23, 1752,  entered  the  Society 
in  1769,  died  in  Maryland,  in  1815. 

Nicholas  Cerfoumont. 

Francis  Beeston. 

Lawrence  (or  Aloysius)  Gressel,  S.  J.,  died  179C. 

Joseph  Eden. 

Louis  Caesar  Delavau,  Canon  of  Tours. 

John  Tessier. 

Anthony  Gamier. 

John  Bolton,  8.  J.,  bora  October  22, 1742,  entered  the  Society  in  1761,  sent 
soon  after  to  Maryland,  Pastor  of  St.  Joseph's,  Philadelphia,  in  1791,  died 
September  9,  1807. 

John  Thayer,  paster  of  Boston,  died  at  Limerick,  February  5, 1815. 


*  Fr^ST  Pbovznoul  Counoii.  of  Baltiiiobi. 

i'he  theologians  were — 
Sehinart. — 1.  Rev.  Louis  Deluol,  S.  S.  S.    Arrived  in  1817;  Professor  of 
Philosophy  and  Theology,  and  Superior;   returned  to  France  in  No- 
vember, 1849. 
2.  Rev.  Edward  Damphous,  S.  S.  S.,  Chaplain  of  the  Carmelites  in  1856. 
Theohgiam  ((f  Bishop  of  JiardsUnon—RQv.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  now  Archbishop  of 

Baltimore. 
»^  '»  LTiarleston—TlQv.  S.  Bnit^,  died  in  1889,  Bishop  of 

Vincennes. 
Ctncinnatir^'Rc-v.  ilr.  De  Bnrth,  died  in  1844. 
St.  Louia — Rev .  Aug.  Jeanjean. 
Boston — Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  now  Archbishop  of 
New  Orleans. 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia — Rev.  Michael  Wheeler. 
Master  of  OertmonieB—'S.tv.  John  Olanohe,  died  in  1882,  Bishop  of  Natohex. 


< . 

«i 

(( 

t( 

« 

<t 

<( 


$4dt  APPENDIX.  '  ' 

Second  Cottnoil  of  Baltimobb  (1883).    See  pag« 

Third  Oocnoil  of  BxtTiHORK  (ISS^).  '  ' 

List  of  the  Fathers,  Theologiana,  and  Officers  qf  the  Council. 

Baltimore Moat  Rev.  S.  Eccleaton,  Archbishop. 

Bev.  John  J.  Clanohe,  and  Bev.  Peter  Schreiber,  The> 
olof^lans. 
St.  Louis Bight  Bev.  Joseph  Bosati,  Bishop. 

Bev.  Begis  Loizel,  Theologian. 
Boston / Bight  Bev.  B.  J.  Femviok,  Bishop. 

Bev.  Th.  J.  MuUedy,  8.  J.,  Theologian. 
Philadelphia Bight  Bev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Arath. 

Bov.  L.  de  Barth,  Theologian. 
Cmcinnati Bight  Bev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  Bishop. 

Bev.  8.  T.  Badin,  Theologian. 
Bardstoton Bight  Bev.  Jgn.  Chabrat,  Bishop  of  Bolin,  Coadjator. 

Bev.  I.  A.  Beyn<;lds,  Theologian. 

Bight  Bev.  John  England. 
C^rletton Biglit  Bev.  WiUium  Clancey,  Bishop  of  Orien,  Coad- 
jutor. 

Bev.  John  Huglies,  Theologian. 
Vmeennes Bight  Bev.  8.  G.  Brat6,  Bishop. 

Bev.  P.  B.  Kenrick,  Theologian. 
JL/eu>  Orleans Bight  Bev.  Ant.  Blano,  Bishop.     * 

Bev.  Aug,  Verot,  Theologian. 
Ifew  Torh Bev.  Felix  Varela,  V.  G.,  Procurator.* 

Bev.  T.  W.  MoSherry,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  of  Mary- 
land. 
.     Bev.  8.  J  Verhoegen,  8.  J.,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  of 
Missouri. 

Bev.  L.  E.  Deluol,  Second  Promotor. 

Bev.  Edward  D.amphoux,  Secretary. 

Bev.  C.  J.  Whitt<,  Assistant  Secretary, 

Bev.  Fr.  Shaurae,  and  Bev.  H.  Griffin,  Masters  of  Cere- 
monies. 

Bev.  John  Eandanne,  and  Bov.  P.  Fredet,  Cantoro. 

Bight  Bev.  John  Dubois,  Bishop  of  New  York.    Se 
Excusatum  Labcri  rogavit. 


Sardttow 

Charleston 
St.  Louis,, 

Boston  ... 

Ifobile 

■Philadelphi 

Cincinnati . 

^«u>  Orleans 


^wcennes  ... 


Baltimore 


FoTJBTH  Council  of  Baltimore  (1840). 
Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Council. 
.Most  Bev.  S.  Eccleston,  Archbishop. 


Eev.  L.  B.  Deluol,  Bev.  J.  J.  Ciibuohe,  and  Bev.  N. 
Eerney,  Theologians. 


£<dtitn<:,re 


^oiton 


APPENDIX.  545 

Bardttown Bight  Bov.  B.  FlAgef,  Bishop. 

Bev.  8.  Chazelle,  8.  J.,  Theologian. 
Char'jeston Bight  Bev.  J.  Enginnd,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Power,  and  Bev .  D.  J.  Barry,  Theologians. 
St.  Louia Bight  Bev.  J.  Bosati,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Lutz,  Theologian. 
Botton Bight  Bev.  B.  J.  Fenwick,  Bishop. 

Bev.  H.  B.  Coskery,  Theologian. 

Mobile Bight  Bev.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

FhUadelphia Bight  Bev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Administrator. 

Bev.  M.  O'Connor,  Theologian. 
Cincinnati Bight  Bev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  McElroy,  S.  J.,  Theologian. 
Jfew  Orleans Bight  Bev.  A.  Blano,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  BouiUler,  C.  M.,  Theologian. 
Dubuque Bight  Bev.  M.  Loras,  Bishop. 

Bev.  8.  Baymond,  Theologian. 
NasMUe Bight  Bev.  B.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Bev.  B.  Bayer,  Theologian. 
Vwoennet Bight  Bev.  C.  B.  L.  de  la  Hailnndi^e,  Bishop. 

Bov.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Theologian. 

Bight  Bev.  C.  A.  M.  J.  de  ForbLx  Janson,  Bish^:-  of 
Nancy  (France). 

Bev.  V.  Badin,  Theologiao. 

Bev.  C.  P.  Montgomery,  Procurator  of  th^  T  ominicans. 

Bev.  J.  Frost,  Superior  of  the  Bedemptorists. 

Bev.  P.  Moriarty,  Superior  of  the  Hermits  of  St.  Augus- 
tine. 

Bev.  J.  B.  L.  E.  Damphouz,  and  Bev.  C.  8.  White,  Sec- 
retaries. 

Bev.  F.  Lhomme,  and  Bev.  J.  B.  Donelan,  Masters  of 
Ceremonies. 

Bev.  J.  B.  Bandanne,  and  Bev.  P.  Fredet,  Cantors. 


Fifth  Counozl  or  Baltdcore  (1848). 
Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Ooundl. 

BdUmuire Moat  Bev.  S.  Eccleston,  Archbishop. 

Bev.  G.  Baymond,  S.  T.  D.,  Bev.  P.  S.  Schreiber,  and 
Bev.  J.  F^^,  C.  S.  B.,  Theologians. 
Boston , .Bight  Bev.  E.  J .  Fenwick,  Bishop. 

>I.  B.  Coskery,  iheologian. 
i&Wfe Kight  Bev.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

T.  Hiokey  and  C  B^mpon,  Theolo;;^  ans. 


'^m 


546  APPKNDIX. 

PhilaeUlpMa Bight  Rev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop. 

V<  '■.  Th.  Heyden,  Tijeolojrian. 
Omeinnati C  u  '  n  r  .  J.  B.  Purcell,  Bishop. 

Kev,  1.  Henni,  Theolofrian. 
Louiaville JRight  Rev.  G.  J.  Chabrat,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Randiinne,  Theologian. 
New  Orleans Right  Rev.  A.  Blano,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Verot,  Theologian. 
Dubuque Right  Rev.  M.  Loran,  Bishop. 

Rev.  S.  Mo?:!"'    '  .,  ^.  P.,  Theologian. 
New  Torh Right  Rev.  J.  Hufrhea,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Penco,  C.  M.,  Theologian. 
yaahvUU Right  Rev.  R.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Pozzo,  O.  P.,  Theologian. 
yincenntt Right  Rev.  de  la  Hailandidre,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  8.  Doiiaghoe,  Theologian. 
Natchez Right  Rev.  J.  J.  Chanoha,  Bishop.  \ 

Rev.  J.  Lancaster,  Theologian.  ' 

Biehmond Right  Rev.  R.  G.  Whelan,  Bishop. 

Rev.  S.  Ryder,  S.  J.|  Theologian. 
Detroit Right  Rev.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Administrator. 

Rev.  G.  Hammer,  Theologian. 
St.  Louia Right  Rev.  P.  R.  Kenrick,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  S.  B.  Tornatoro,  C.  M.,  Theologiau. 
Texat Right  Rev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Vicar-apostolio. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Gildea,  Theologian. 
(Jha/rU»ton Rev.  R.  S.  Baker,  Vicar-general,  Administrator. 

Rev.  ?,  Lynch,  S.  T.  D.,  Theologian. 

Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol,  8.  T.  D.,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice. 

Rev.  J.  Timon,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  tlie 

Mission. 
Rev.  P.  J.  \   rhoegen,  S.  J.,  Provincial  of  Misaouri. 
Rev.  P.  Morlarty,  Gom.-general  of  the  Hermits  of  St. 

Augustine. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Damphoux,  and  Rev.  C.  I.  White,  Secre- 
taries. 
Rev.  F.  Lhommc,  Master  of  Ceremonies. 
Rev.  T.  Folej ,  and  Rev.  O.  Jenkins,  Assistants. 
Rev.  '*    Blenkinroy,  and  Rev.  G.  D.  Parsons,  Cantors. 


Sixth  Council  of  BALTnuoRX  (1846). 

Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Oouneil. 

BaUvmort Most  Rev.  Samuel  Ecdeston,  Archbishop. 

Rev.  Gilb.  Raymond,  S.  T.  B.,  Rev.  H.  B.  CoBkery,  and 
Rev.  C.  i.  White,  Theologians. 


^    \ 


APPKNDII. 


547 


J£obil4 Bight  Sev.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A .  T.  Elder,  Theologian. 
PUladtlphia Right  Rev.  F.  P.  Kenricli,  Binhop. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Tornatore,  Theologian. 
Oineinnati Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  Binhop. 

Rev.  E.  T.  Collins,  Theologian. 
LoxiisviUe Right  Rev.  0.  J.  Chabrat,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  M.  J.  Spalding,  8.  T.  D.,  Theologian. 
Ntw  Orleans Right  Rev.  A.  Blnnc,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Verot,  Theologian, 
Dubuqvt Right  Rev.  M.  Loras,  Bishop. 

Rev.  M.  McAleer,  Theologian. 
New  York Right  Rev.  J.  Hughes,  Bishop. 

Right  Rev.  J.  MoCIoskey,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  F.  Varela  and  Rev.  J.  McCaffrey,  Theologiui*. 
NuhvUU Bight  Rev.  R.  P.  Miler,  Bishop. 

Rev.  C.  J.  Carter,  Theologian. 
Tineennet Right  Rev.  de  la  Hailandi^re,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Randanne,  Theologian. 
Natchez Right  Rev.  J.  J.  Chanche,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  B.  Saint  Qermain,  Theologian. 
Richmond Right  Rev.  R.  V,  Wheliiu,  Bishop. 

Rev.  H.  Tappert,  C.  SS.  R.,  Theologian. 
Detroit Right  Rev.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Administrator. 

Rev.  C.  C.  Pise,  Theologian. 
St.  Louia. Right  Rev.  P.  B.  Kenrick,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Melcher,  Theologian. 
Ttxat Bight  Bev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Vicar-apostolio. 

Bev.  J.  Dolan,  Theologian. 
PUtsbur^  Bight  Rev.  M.  O  Connor,  Bishop. 

Bev.  T.  Hoyden,  Theologian. 
LUtle  Bock Bight  Bev.  A.  Byrne,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Corry,  Theologian. 
Chicago Bight  Bev.  W.  Quarter,  Bishop. 

Bev.  0.  L.  Jenkins,  Theologian. 
Ear^ord Bight  Bev.  W.  Tyler,  Bishop. 

Bev.  E.  MoColgan,  Theologian. 
CSiarUston Bight  Bev.  I.  A.  Beynolds,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Barry,  Theologian. 
MUwauHe Bight  Bev.  J.  Henni,  Bishop. 

Bev.  T.  Hickey,  Theologian. 
£oit<m Bight  Bev.  J.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Coadjutor. 

Bev.  J.  V.  Qniblier,  Theologian. 


Bev.  B.  L.  Deluol,  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 
Bev.  J.  Timon,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  th« 
Mission. 


w 


HS  APPENDIX. 

Rev.  P.  Czaokerl,  Sap«iior  of  the  Congregation  of  the 

Most  Holy  Bedoemer. 
Bev.  G.  A.  "Wilson,  Prov'l  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic. 
Bev.  P.  J.  Verlioegen,  S.  J.,  Provinoiul  of  ttie  Jesuits 

for  Maryland. 
Eev.  J.  O.  Vandevelde,  8.  J.,  Vice-provincial  of  tlie 

Jesuits  of  Missouri. 

Bev.  J.  B.  Damphouzand  Rev.  F.  Lhotnme,  Secretaries, 
s  ^  Bev.  F.  Lhomme,  Master  of  CeremonieB. 

Bev.  W<  D.  Parsons,  Cantor. 


^ '         I      '     '  Sbvknth  CotTNOiL  OF  Baltqiobs  (1849). 

Fathers,  Thedogiant,  and  Officers  qf  the  CbuneU.       \ 

Saltimors Most  Bev.  S.  Eccleston,  Archbishop. 

Bev.  S.  Raymond,  Rev.  C.  I.  White,  and  Bev.  H.  B. 
Coskery,  Theologians. 
St.  Louis Most  Bev.  P.  R.  Kenrick,  Archbishop. 

Rev.  S.  A.  Paris  and  Rev.  Th.  Foley,  Theologians. 
Mobile Right  Rev.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Portier,  Theologian. 
PhiladelpAia Right  Rev.  S.  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  Amat,  C.  M.,  Theologian. 
Oinemnati  , Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Piirceil,  Bishop. 

Rov.  J.  F.  Wood  and  Rev.  W.  Untertheiner,  0.  P.  M., 
Theologians. 
Jfino  Orleans Right  Rev.  A.  Blanc,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Rouqnette  and  Rev.  J.  McCaffrey,  Theologians. 
Dubuque Right  Rev.  M.  Loras,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Pelamourgues,  Theologian. 
Iflw  York Right  Rev.  J.  Hughes,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  Lou^hlin  and  Rev.  J.  Rafifeiner,  Theologians. 
NashmUe Right  Rev.  R.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Donelan,  Theologian. 
Natchez Right  Rev.  J.  J.  Chanche,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Hickey,  Theologian. 
Jfiflhrnond Right  Rev.  R.  V.  Whelan,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  O'Brien,  Theologian. 
Detroit Right  Rev.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Administrator. 

Rev.  P.  Kindekens,  Theologian. 
Gaketton Right  Rev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Bishop. 

Rev.  A.  Verot,  Theologian. 
Pittsburg Right  Rev.  M.  O'Connor,  Bishop. 

Bev.  J.  O'Connor,  Theologian. 


Albanp 

Jfartfun 

CharUiio 

MUwawci 

Jlotton. . . 

Cleveland 

•Sfifalo.., 

^ieville. 

Vincennet, 


APPENDIX. 


549 


Albany Right  Rev.  J.  MoCloskey,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  J.  Conroy,  Theolojfian. 
Hartford Kigiit  Rev.  W.  Tvler,  Bmliop. 

Kcv.  J.  Fittou,  Tlicolotfian. 
CharUtlon Right  Ho  v.  I.  A.  KuyiioUls,  Bishop. 

Kev.  J.  Ryder,  8.  J.,  Theologian. 
Milwawctn Riglit  Rev.  J.  M.  Henni,  BiHhop. 

Rev.  M.  HeiHH,  Theologian. 
£oiton Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Fitz|mtriek,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  Connolly,  Theologian. 
CUvdand Right  Rev.  A.  Rnppe,  Biithop. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Randanne,  Theologian. 
Buffalo Right  Rev.  J.  Tinion,  Bishop. 

Rev.  B.  O'Reilly,  Theologian. 
LouiavUU Right  Rev.  M.  J.  Spalding,  Coadjutor. 

Rev.  W.  Elder,  Theologian. 
VincenfUB Right  Rev.  M.  de  St.  Palois,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  Corbe,  Theologian. 
Cliicago Right  Kev.  J.  0.  Vandevelde,  Bishop. 

Rev.  C.  C.  Piao,  Theologian. 

The  Right  Rev.  A.  Byrne,  Bishop  of  Little  Rock,  was  not  pres- 
ent at  the  Council,  but  his  Theologian,  Rev.  W.  Starrs,  wrs. 

Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol,  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary. 
Rev.  M.  Mailer,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  the 

Mission. 
Rev.  B.  Wimmer,  Superior  of  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict. 
Rev.  J.  S.  Alemany,  Provincial  of  the  Order  of  St. 

Dominic.  • 

Rev.  J.  P.  O'Dwyer,  Oom!:i.  General  of  the  Hermits  of 

St.  Augustino 
Rev.  J.  Broc<;icl,  Provincial  of  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland. 
Rev.  J.  A.  Elet,  Vic.  Prov.  of  the  Jesuits  of  Missouri. 
Rev.  C.  Boulanger,  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  of  New  York. 
Rev.  B.  Haf  kenscheid.  Provincial  of  the  Congregation 

of  the  Holy  Redeemer. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Daraphoux  and  Rev.  F.  Lhomme,  Secretaries. 
Rev.  F.  Lhomme  and  Rev.  F.  E.  Boyle,  Masters  of 

Ceremonies. 
Rev.  L.  Gillet,  0.  SS.  R.,  and  Rev.  W.  D.  Parsons, 

Cantors. 


'^ 


M 


550 


APPENDIX. 


Ptbnahy  Counoil  of  Baltimore  (1862). 
Fathers,  Theologians,  and  Officers  of  the  Council. 

Baltimore Most  Eev.  F.  P.  Kenrick,  Archbishop,  Delegate  of  the 

Holy  See, 

Eev.  H.  B.  Coskery,  V.  G.,  Eev.  C.  ;  TVhJte,  S.  T.  D., 
and  Eev.  Aug.  Verot,  S.  S.  S.,  Tht,:!.gian3. 
Oregon Most  Eev.  F.  N.  Blanchet,  Archbiahop. 

Eev.  J.  Hickey  and  Eev.  A.  J.  Elder,  Theologians. 
St.  Louis Most  Eev.  P.  E.  Kenrick,  Archbishop. 

Eev.  A.  O'Eegan  and  Eev.  G.  O.  Oertlieb,  Theologians. 
New  Orleans Most  Eev.  A.  Blano,  Archbishop. 

Eev.  N.  Perche  and  Eev.  J.  Dolan,  Theologians. 
New  TorJi Most  Eev.  J.  Hughes,  Archbishop. 

Eev.  J.  Loughlin,  V.  G.,  and  Eev.  J.  E.  Bailey,  Theol. 
Cincinnati Most  Eev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  Archbishop, 

Eev.  J.  Ferneding,  V.  G.,  and  Eev.  J.  M.  Young,  Theo. 
Mobile Eight  Eev.  M.  Portier,  Bishop. 

Eev.  J.  J.  Mullon,  Theologian. 
Dubuque Eight  Eev.  M.  Loras,  Bishop. 

Very  Eev.  A.  Pelamourgues,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Nashville Eight  Eev.  E.  P.  Miles,  Bishop. 

Eev.  L.  Obermeyer  and  Eev.  J.  B.  Byrne,  Theologians. 
Natchez Eight  Eev.  J.  J.  Chanche,  Bishop. 

Eev.  J.  Fitton,  Theologinn. 
Wheeling Eight  Eev.  E.  V.  Whehin,  Bishop. 

Eev.  il.  P.  Gallagher,  Theologian. 
Detroit .'rcigl't  Epv.  P.  P.  Lefevere,  Administrator. 

Very  Eev.  P.  Kinderkena,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Galveston Eight  Eev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Bishop. 

Eev.  E.  Quigley,  Theologian. 
Pittsburg Eight  Eev.  M.  O^Connor,  Bishop. 

Eev.  E.  F.  Garland  and  Eev.  A.  T.  Peyton,  Theologians. 
Little  Bock .Eight  Eev.  A.  Byrne,  Bishop. 

Eev.  P.  Behan,  Theologian. 
Albany Eight  Eev.  J.  McCloskey,  Bishop. 

Very  Eev.  J.  J.  Couroy,  V.^G..  Theologian. 
Charleston Eight  Eev.  1.  A.  Eeynolds,  Bishop. 

Eev.  J.  M.  Forbes  and  Eev.  S.  Malore,  Theologians. 
Boston Eight  Eev.  J.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Bishop. 

Eev.  D.  Hearne,  Thcj'^'ogian. 
Cleveland Eight  Eev.  A.  Rappe,  Bishop. 

Very  Eev.  A.  T.  Caron,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
Buffalo Eight  Rev.  J.  Timon,  Bishop. 

Eev.  W.  O'Eeilly,  Theologian. 
Louisville Eight  Eev.  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bishop. 

Eev.  C.  J.  Boeswald,  Theologian. 


APPENDIX. 


551 


Chicago Right  Rev.  J.  0.  Vandevelde,  Bishop. 

Very  Rev.  W.  J.  Quarter,  V.  G.,  Theologian. 
NesqiMly .Right  Rev.  A.  M.  A.  Blanchet,  Bishop. 

Rev.  R.  Mullen,  Theologian. 
Monterey Right  Rev.  J.  S.  Allemany,  Bishop. 

Rev.  T.  Martin,  O.  P.,  Theologian. 
Hartford Right  Rev.  B.  O'Reilly,  Bishop. 

Rev.  J.  McElroy,  8.  J.,  Theologian. 
Savannah Right  Rev.  F.  X.  Gartland,  Bisliop. 

Rev.  J.  McCaffrey,  8.  T.  D.,  Theologian. 
Bichmond Right  Rev.  J.  McGill,  Bishop. 

Rev.  L.  de  Gandarillas,  Theologian. 
New  Mexico Right  Rev.  J.  Lamy,  Vif  ?,r-apo8tolio. 

Rev.  J.  Truxillo,  Theologian. 
Indian  Territory  ....Right  Rev.  J.  B.  Miege,  Vicar-apostolic. 

Rev.  F.  Burlando,  C.  M.,  Theolojfian. 
Philadelphia Right  Rov.  J.  N.  Neuman,  Bishop. 

Very  Rev.  E.  J.  Sourin,  V.  G.,  Thsologian. 
Toronto  (^Canada  PT.). Right  Rev.  A.  de  Charbonnel,  Bishop. 

Right  Rev.  M.  Eutropius,  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's  of  La 

Trappe. 
Very  Rev.  P.  E.  Moriarty,  S.  T.  D.,  Assist.  General  0. 8. 

Aug.,  and  Comm.  General  of  the  Order. 
Very  Rev.  R.  A.  White,  S.  T.  M.,  Visitor-general  of  the 

Order  of  St.  Dominic. 
Very  Rev.  B.  Wimmer,  Superior-general  of  the  Order 

of  St.  Benedict. 
Very  Rev.  W.  Unterthiner,  Sup'r  of  the  Freres  Minors. 
Very  Rev.  J,  Ash  wander,  S.  J.,  Provincial  of  Maryland. 
Very  Rev.  W.  Murphy,  S.  J.,  Vic.  Prov'l  of  Missouri. 
Very  Rev.  C.  Boulanger,  S.  J.,  Superior  of  the  Mission 

of  Canada  and  New  York. 
Very  Rev.  A.  Jourdaut,  S.  «.,  Superior  of  the  Mission 

of  New  Orleans. 
Very  Rev.  B.  J.  Haf kenscheid,  Provincial  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  the  Holy  Redeemer. 
Very  Rev.  M.  Mailer,  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of 

the  Mission,  Director  of  the  Sisters  of  Ciiarity. 
Very  Rev.  F.  Lhomme,  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  Rector 

of  St.  Mary's. 

Rev.  E.  L.  Damphoux.  Notary. 

Very  Rev.  P.  L.  Lyncli  and  Rev.  T.  Foley,  Secretaries, 
Rev.  F.  Burlando,  C.  M.,  Master  of  Ceremonies. 
Very  Rev.  L.  de  Goesbriand,  V.  G.,  and  Rev.  J.  Dough- 
erty, Cantors. 


652 


APPENDIX. 


CESTIFICATE  OF  THE  MARRIAGE  OP  JEROME  BONAPARTE 
•  (as  entered  in  the  handwriting  of  eishop  Carroll). 

Baltimore,  December  2Uh,  1803. 
With  license,  I  this  day  joined  in  holy  matrimony,  according  to  the  rites 
of  the  holy  Catholic  Church,  Jerome  Bonaparte,  brother  of  the  First  Consul 
of  France,  ond  Elizabeth  Patterson,  daughter  of  William  Patterson,  Esq.,  of 
the  city  of  Baltimore,  and  his  wife.  4*  John,  Bkhop  of  Baltimore. 


IV. 

LIST  OF  PRIESTS  ORDAINED  IN  THE  DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE, 
PHILADELPHIA,  NEW  YORK,  ALBANY,  BUFFALO,  BROOKLYN, 
AND  NEWARK. 
Ordinations  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  and  Georqetown. 


NAME. 


1 
2 

8 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
18 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 
28 
29 
80 
81 
82 
83 
84 
86 
8fi 
87 
8S 
89 


Stephen  Theodore  Badin 

Demetrius  A.  Gallitzin 

John  Floyd 

John  T.  M.  E.  P.  Demondesir 

William  Mathews 

Ignatius  Baker  Brooke 

John  Monnereau 

Michael  Cuddy 

George  M.  do  Perigny 

William  O.  Bryan 

Francis  Eoloff. 

John  Spink,  S.  J, 

Leonard  Edelin,  S.  J 

Enoch  Fenwick,  8.  J 

BENBDicr  Fenwick,  8.  J 

Michael  Byrne 

James  N.  Joubert 

Adam  Marshall,  8.  J 

John  Carey,  8.  J. 

Joseph  Picot  de  Clorivi^re. . . 

Joseph  Harent 

James  Redmond,  3.  J 

Edward  Damphoux 

John  Moy nihan 

John  Hickey 

James  Wallace,  8  J 

Charles  Bowling,  8.  J 

Roger  Smith 

Joseph  Gobert,  8.  J 

Patrick  O'Connor 

John  Holland 

John  McElroy,  8.  J 

Roger  Baxter,  S.  J 

Nicholas  Kenny. 

Fairclongh 

George  Shenfelder. 

Ilonore  X.  Xaupi 

John  Clanohe 

Timothy  O'Brisn 


Orleans,  France... 
St.  Mary's  Sem'y . . 

Chartrcs,  France.. 
St.  Mary's  Sem'y.. 

Liege 

Rieux,  France 

St.  Mary's  Sem'y.. 

Blois,  h  ranee 

St.  Mary's  Sem'y . . 


PLACE  OP  STUDY. 


Georgetown. 


u 


St.  Mary's  Sem'y.. 

Georgetown, 

France  and  Geo't'n 
St  Mary's 


Georgetown 

France  &'8t.  Mary's 


Georgetown 


St.  Mary's . . 
Georgetown 

St.  Mary's  . . 


Georgetown 


St.  Mary's. 


Mount  St.  Mary's. 
St,  Mary's  Sem  y . 


WHEN 
ORDAINED. 


May  25, 1793. 
March  18, 1795. 
Sept  19,1795. 
Sept  80.1798. 
March  29, 1800. 
March  21. 1801. 
April  22,  1802. 
May  14,  1803. 
June  20,  1808. 
April  11,  1808. 
June  11, 1808. 
March  12, 1808. 


Sept  28, 1809. 
Sept  22, 1810. 
June  8, 1811. 
Dec,  1811. 
Aug.,  1812. 
May  19, 1812. 
March  21, 1813. 
June  12, 1818. 
Aug.  7, 1813. 
Sept  y4, 1814. 
Nov.  17, 1814. 
June  18, 1815. 
Aug.  2,  1815. 
Aug.  27,  1815. 
Dec  13, 1815. 
Nov.  80,  1816. 
May  81, 1817. 

it 

March  18, 1818 

4i 

Aug.  15, 1818. 
June  5, 1819. 


BY  WHOM. 


Achb'p  Carroll. 


Bishop  Neale. 
(( 

u 
u 

Bishop  Carroll. 
(( 

Bishop  Neale. 
«i 

Bishop  Carroll. 

Bishop  Neale. 

Bishop  Carroll. 
» 

Bishop  Neale. 

u 

Bishop  CnrrolL 

Bishop  Neale. 

Bishop  Carroll. 

Bishop  Cheverui 

Archb"p  Neale, 
it 

Abp.  MarechaL 


40'j8n)( 

41  Geor 

4y  John 

48  Hem 

44  Peter 

46AIexi 

46,Michj 

47Steph 

4Si  Virgii 

49;AIoysl 

60  Peter 

61  John  f 

62 lONAT 

68,Ferdin 

o5iFrancl( 
5')  Charicfl 
'57!renatin 

6'^'Michaei 

S^jSAMUEt 

6«,Matthe> 
ol  George 

62jJames  F 
53  Anthonv 

64  John  La 

65  Peter  Sc 

66  Thomas 

67  Jumes  Vi 
69  James  N 

69  John  6il( 

70  John  Cur 

Jl  Francis  J 

i2^;-ancisS 

'■1  Alexandc; 

J4| Edward  iL 

_(5j  George  fJ 

'6  Jfenry  Ml 

77  fciifrene  jj 

I'lJolin  Hosi 

<9|rhomasLl 

oO  James  Cuf 

4'-^"co 
^8  John  Don] 

S')Michael  gI 

w, Michael  hI 

°t'l^ugu.stlnor 
«7|J,-.me8  StrA 
8^  Patrick  Col 

^0  John  H.  Jm 

J2  "ugh  Orlf 

fl4!E,lward  da 

9fi  Peter' O'Kli 
97  James  Powl 
;  .^    "g"  Die;  I 

""./'atrJckCof 


APFEXDIX. 


55a 


CnrToll 
Neale. 
Carroll, 
hevcrui 

Nertle. 


ai'U' 


cbaL 


NAME. 


PLAOB  OF  BTCDT. 


40 
41 
4'-' 
48 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 1 
49 
60 
61 
62 
68 
64 
65 
56 
67 
68' 
69 
60 
61 

62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
6S 
69 
70 
71 
72 
73 
74 
75 
76 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
88 
8) 
85 
86 
87 
8^! 
89 
90 
91 
92 
93 
94 
9:, 
9fi 
97 
OS 

ll.) 
i;io 


James  Cummiskey 

George  D.  Hogan 

John  Murphy,  8.  J 

Heni'y  Verhoegen,  8.  J 

Peter  J.  Tlnimermans,  8.  J. 

Alexins  Elder 

Michael  Whelan 

Stephen  Du  Buisson,  8,  J. . 

Virgil  II.  Barber,  8.  J 

Aloysius  Mudfl,  S.  J 

Peter  Walsh.  8.  J 

John  Smith,  8.  J. 

Ignatius  Rkynolds 

Ferdinand  Cosker 

John  Gerry 

Francis  J.  Vanhorsigh 

Charles  C.  Pise 

lenatlns  Combs,  8.  J 

Michael  Douj'herty 

Samuel  Ecclkston 

Matthew  P.  Deiigle 

George  Fenwick,  8.  J 


James  Hcerner 

Anthony  Kenny 

John  Larkin 

Peter  Schreiber 

Thomas  Finigan.  8.  J 

Jhmes  Van  de  Velde,  8.  J. 

James  Neill,  8.  J 

John  Gildea. 

John  Curtin 

Francis  Jamison 

Francis  StilUnger 

Alexander  IHtselberger 

Edward  Night 

Oeorge  Flaut 

Henry  Myers 

Eugene  J.  Pellssier 

Jolm  Hoskyns 

Tliomas  Lilly,  8,  J 

James  Curley,  8.  J 

Bertrand  Plot 

Henry  Coskery 

John  Donele' 

Michael  Gal.lher 

Michael  Hfas 

Augustino  Bally,  8.  J 

James  Strain,  8  J 

Patrick  Corry,  8.  J 

Ambrose  Obermeyer 

JohnH.  McCaffry 

Thomas  MeCafl'ry 

Hugh  Griffin 

David  W,  Bacon 

Edward  Colgau 

Jbvc:  DoUn - 

Peter  O' Flanagan,  8.  J 

James  Power,  8.  J 

Hoger  Die.  2,  8.  J 

Henry  Muiphy 

,  Patrick  Co  irtney 


St  Mary's  Sem'y . 
Georgetown 


8t.  Mary's  8em'y . 
Georgetown 


St  Mary's 


Georgetown 
8t  Mary's. . . 


WHEN 
OBDAINKD. 


BT   WHOM. 


March  25, 1820,  Abp.  Marechal. 

U  It 

July  28,  1820.    •  » 


8t  Mary's. 


Aug.  18,  1820. 

Aug.  7,  1821. 
Dec.  8,  1822. 
March  19,1823. 
May  23, 1828. 

Oct  24,  1823. 

-July  22, 1821. 

March  19, 1825. 

March,  1825. 
tt 

April  24, 18-25. 
Sept  28.  18J6. 
jOct  28,  1826. 

Isept  28.  1826. 
'Oct  6,  1826. 
jAug.  M,  1827. 


Georgetown 8ept  25, 1827. 


St.  Mary's 


8t  Mary's  . . . 
Emmetsburg 


St.  Mary's 


8t  Mary's 


Georgetown 


feu  Mary's 


Georgetown 


8t  Mary's  . . . 
Etumetsburg 


Georgetown 


Nov.  25,  1827. 
March  25, 1829. 
July  14,  1829. 
Sept  b,  lfe29. 
Feb.  2S,  1830. 
May  25,  1380. 
Aug.  81,  1830. 
Oct  2,  1830. 
Septs,  I'iSI. 
April  17,  1S81. 
Aug.  «0,  1832. 
June  1,  1833. 

Sept  1, 1888. 

Sent  20,  1884. 
July  24,  1686. 

Mav  4,  1887. 
May  6, 1837. 
July  23, 1837. 

Dec.  8.  1887. 
March  10, 1838. 
Dec.  1, 1838. 
Dec.  i3,  1888. 

Sept  1. 1889. 
Doc.  18,  1840. 
April  6,  1840. 

June  29, 1841. 
Sept  8, 1842. 


Bishop  Cheverus. 
Bishop  Dubourg. 
Abp.  Marechal. 


Bp.  E.  Fenwick. 
Jas.  Whiteflcld. 
Abp.  Maruclial. 

n 

Bp.   SommnrivM. 

of  Modena. 

Abp.  MarudiHl 
it 


Bb.  E.  Fenwick. 
Abp.  Whitetleld. 


Abp.  Ecclestrm. 


Bl.sliop  Rosatl. 
Abp.  Eccleston. 


tt 

tt 

a 
it 
tt 
ti 

14 


■A.  ^i' 


11 


24 


554 


APPENDIX. 


101 
102 
108 
104 
105 
106 
107 
108 
109 
110 
111 
112 
118 
114 
115 
116 
117 
118 
119 
120 
121 
122 
128 
124 
12ft 
126 
127 
128 
129 
180 
131 
182 

i:« 

184 
18ft 
186 
137 
188 
189 
140 
141 
142 
148 
144 
145 
146 
147 
148 
149 
160 
161 
152 
163 
154 
155 
156 
167 
168 
169 
160 
161 
162 


VAMX. 


J., 


BeneiJlct  Donelan .... 
James  Ward,  8.  J.,... 

John  .<lox,  8.  J 

William  Clark,  S.J... 
Charles  8tonestreet,  8, 

William  Logan,  8.  J 

William  Blenkinsop 

John  Aiken,  8.  J 

Miles  Gibbons,  S.  J..  

George  Vllliger,  8.  J. 

Michael  Tuffer.  8.  J 

Thomas  O'NelL 

Joseph  MHguire 

Michael  Slattery 

Oliver  L  Jenkins. 

Charles  Brenan 

William  Pwsons 

John  Early,  8.  J. 

Augastine  McMullen,  8.  J 

Daniel  Lynch,  8.  J 

Augastine  Kennedy,  8.  J 

Thomas  M.  Jenkins,  8.  J 

Peter  Blenkinsop,  8.  J 

Camillas  Yicinanza,  8.  J 

Thomas  A.  Foley 

Francis  X.  King. 

Patrick  Dalton 

Joseph  Flnotti,  8,  J 

James  Clarke,  8.  J 

Robert  J.  Lawrence 

Charles  King.  8.  J 

-lohn  McGuigan,  8.  J. 

Anthony  CiampI,  8.  J. 

Angelo  Paresce.  8.  J 

Livius  Vigilante,  8.  J 

Basil  Pacciarlni,  8.  J 

Peter  do  Meulenieester,  8.  J . 

Francis  Lachat,  8.  J 

Hippolyte  de  Neckere,  8.  J... 

Edward  Caton 

Peter  Lenaghan 

John  Gillespie,  8.  J 

William  Lambert 

John  Larkin 

Edward  J.  O'Brien 

John  Slattery,  8.  J 

Bernard  Wiget,  8.  J 

Burchard  Vllliger,  8.  J. 

John  Voors,  8.  J 

Bernard  Mngairc,  8.  J 

Alphonsns  Gharlier,  8.  J 

John  Nally 

Francis  E.  Boyle 

Patrick  Duddy,  8.  J 

Henry  Hof-in,  S.  J 

Peter  Folchl,  S.  J 

Jatnes  Tracy 

Samuel  Lilly,  8.  J. 

Patrick  Creighton,  8.  J 

Michael  Haring,  8.  J 

John  J.  Dougherty 

James  Walters . . : 


PLACE  OF   BTVDT. 


Georgetown 


St.  Mary's  Sem'y. 


Georgetown 

t4 


U 
«t 
U 

u 
u 


St  Mary's  Sem'y. 


Georgetown 


Georgetown 


Fribourg  . . . 
Georgetown 
St  Mary's  . . 


Georgetown 


Georgetown 
Switzerland. 


Georgetown 


St  Mary's  . . 
Georgetown 


Georgetown 


WHEN 
OEDAINri 


Dec.  17, 1S42. 
July  4, 184a 


Sept  8, 184.3. 
July  21, 1844. 


Aug.  10, 1844 
Sept  1, 1844. 

u 

Dec  21, 1844 

July  6, 1845. 
it 

«i 

tt 

July  18,  1846. 

iJuly  26, 1846. 
It 

<t 

Aug.  17,  1846. 
April  11, 1847. 
June  18,  lSt7. 
Aug.  21, 1847. 

July  12, 1848. 

July  28,  1848. 
it 

tt 

it 


Feb.  2, 1849. 

Aug.  11,  1849. 

Sept  1,  1849. 
it 

Sept  22, 1849. 

Oct  4, 1849. 
it 

June  2, 1850. 
Aug.  11, 1860. 


Jan.  12, 1851. 

Sept  27, 1851. 
ii 

Nov.  21, 1851. 
it 

June  12, 1852. 


July  21, 18.52. 
Aug.  27,  1842. 


BY  WHOM. 


Abp.  Eccleston. 


it 
tt 
it 
It 
ii 
ti 
It 
ii 
Ii 
It 


Bp.  Fitzpatrick. 
Abp.  EcclestoD, 


8t  Mary's Sept  04  1868. 

Sept  23,  1858. 


Bp.  Fitzpatrick. 
Abp.  EcclestoQ. 


Bp.  Fitzpatrick, 
Abp.  Eccleston. 


Bishop  Garland. 
Bishop  McGill. 

u 

Arclib'pKenrick. 


Bishop  McGiU. 
It 

it 
Archb'p  Kenrlok. 


Oct 


APPENDIX. 


555 


OeOINATIONS  in   the  DioOESK   of   WHEKtINO. 


NAHBB. 


Seminary,  Wheeling. . . 
St  Mary's  Semin'ry,  Bait 


Rev.  Bartholomew  Stack. 
Kev.  Denni"-,  Brennan. . . . 
Rev.  John  T.  Brazil  1  .... 

Rev.  Stephen  Huber 

Rev.  H.  F.  Parke 

Rev.  James  Cunningham. 

Rev.  John  Walters 

Rev.  Joseph  Hcidencamp|8erainary,  Wheeling 
Rev.  Henry  Malone  .        '        ' 


WHERE  SSrOATED. 


WHEN 
OKDAINED. 


Dee.  30, 1849. 
Dec.  9.8,  ISftO. 
June  Ifi,  1861. 
March  28,1862, 
Dec.  21,  1851. 
Aug.  16, 1868. 

4k 

May,  1856. 


BT  WUOH. 


Bishop  Whelan. 


Obdinations  in  Philadklphu  from  1820  to  1832. 


<i  11 


rick. 

StOD. 


Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  now  Archbishop  of  New  Tork. 
Right  Rev.  F.  X.  Gartland,  late  Bishop  of  Savannah. 
Right  Rev.  G.  A.  Carrell,  now  Bishop  of  Covington. 


Rev.  B.  Eeenan. 
"    P.  RafTerty. 
"    Mr.  Mean. 
"    Mic>'»pl  Curran,  Jr. 


Rev.  Th.  Egan. 
"    Oh.  J.  Carter. 
"■    Th.  Hayden. 
"    Mr.  Dwin. 


Rev.  J.  O'Reilly. 
"    J.  Stillinger. 
"    E.  J.  Sourin. 


Out  of  the  Seminaky  of  St.  Charles  Bohromeo  from  1832  to  1856. 


Rev. 


itrick. 
leston. 


Itttrick, 
leston. 


jarland. 
IcGlU. 

[enrlck. 


^cQill• 
l.enrlok, 


Henry  F.  FitzMmmons 
Michael  Barker. 
Patrick  Reilly. 
Peter  Maher. 
Daniel  F.  Devitt 
James  Malrony. 
Michael  Gallagher. 
Edward  McGinniS. 
Francis  J.  Dean. 
James  Miller. 
Daniel  Megorien. 
Christo'r  W.  Loughran. 
Patrick  Nugent 
Peter  Steinbuekcr. 
Patrick  Prendergast 
Matthew  W.  Gibson. 
Patrick  Sheridan. 
-Nicholas  Cantwell. 
Hugh  Lane. 
Hugh  Fit/simmons. 
Philip  O'FarrelL 
John  Mackin. 
Dominick  Forrestall. 
Robert  Kleineidam. 
John  Walsh. 
James  Power. 
John  Berbigier. 
Michael  Malone. 
Richard  O'Connor. 


Rev.  Michael  Martin, 

"  Jeremiah  Aliern. 

"  James  Cullen. 

"  James  WcGinnis. 

"  Thomas  Reardon. 

"  JamoH  O'Kane. 

"  P*vtrick  Flanigan. 

"  James  O'Keeffe. 

"  Sylvester  Eagle. 

"  John  Loughran. 

"  Hugh  McMahon. 

"  Arthur  Haviland. 

"  Michael  Wizzfleld. 

'  John  O'ShauKhnessy. 

"  Matthew  McQrain. 

"  John  Davis. 

"  Moses  Whithy. 

"  Matthew  Cobbin. 

"  Peter  Carbon. 

"  Philip  Gough. 

"  Edward  Murray. 

"  Edward  Q.  S.  Waldron 

"  Patrick  O  Brien. 

«'  Henry  Finniifan. 

"  Michael  L.  Scanlau. 

"  John  McQovern. 

»  John  Kelly. 

"  John  Power. 

»•  "  Francis  X.  Georga. 


Rev.  Michael  Phelan. 

"  John  Qulnn. 

"  Wm.  McLaughlin. 

"  John  Flanigan. 

"  John  Prendergast 

"  Wm.  Kean. 

"  Daniel  Sheridan. 

"  Patrick  Noonan. 

"  John  Power. 

"  Francis  J.  Walter. 

"  Rudolf  Kunzer. 

"  Walter  Power. 

"  John  McCosker, 

"  Patrick  Fitzmorria, 

"  Pacrick  McArdle. 

"  Dennis  O'Harra. 

"  James  McGinn. 

"  Richard  Kinnehan. 

"  Maurice  Walsh 

"  Ediiiond  Fitzmorrls, 

"  Thomas  Lyndon. 

"  Charles  MoEnroy. 

"  James  Barrett. 

"  »fohn  Scanian. 

"  J<>i<n  McAnany. 

"  Thomas  Kearns. 

"  David  Whelan. 

"  Patric'ic  ATcSwlggan. 

'•  Nicholas  Walsh. 


556 


APPENDIX. 


Okdinations  in  the  Diocese  of  New  Yobk. 


T-:m 


MAHKS. 


Rev.  Michael  O'Gorman  . 

Rev.  Richard  Bulger 

Rev.  Patrick  Kolly 

Rev.  Ciiarles  Brennan  . . . 

Rev.  John  Shanahan 

Rev.  John  Conroy 

Rev,  Luke  Berry 

Rev.  John  Walsh 

Rev.  Joseph  A.  Schneller. 
Rov.  Gregory  B.  Pardow. 
Rev.  William  Quarter. . . . 
Eev.  Bernard  O'Reilly. . . 

Rev.  James  Terwooren  . . 

Rev.  Patrick  Moran 

Rev.  Walter  J.  Quarter  . . 


Rev.  John  Kelly 

Rev.  John  M'Cioskey . . . 

Rev.  William  Starrs 

Rev.  Patrick  Bradley . . . 
Rev.  John  M'Nulty  .... 
Rev.  James  Dogherty  , . 
Rev.  Patrick  Costello. . . 
Rev.  John  N.  Neumann . 
Rev.  David  Bacon 


Rev.  Edward  O'Nlell... 

Rev.P.  Coyle 

Rev. John  Longhlin.... 
Rev.  Miles  Maxwell .... 

Rev.  J.  Mackay 

Rev.  B.  L.  Laniza 

Rev.  k.  Manahan.  D.D. . 
Rev.  Chaa.  D.M'Mallen. 
Rev.  Theodore  Noethen 
Rev.  Carberry  J.  Byrne. 
Rev.  Jobc  Uarley 


Rev.  John  J.  Conroy. . . 
Rev.  Lawrence  Carroll. 


Rev.  Richard  Kein 

Rev.  William  IIogfi.n  ... 
Rev.  James  Keveny. ... 
Rev.  Anthony  Farley. . . 
Rev.  Francis  Donahue. . 
Rev.  Isaac  P.  Howell 

Rev.  Michael  M'Donnell, 
Rev.  J.  R.  Bayley 


Rev.  William  M'Clellan . , 
Rev.  Michael  Curran,  Jr, 
Rev.  Michael  Riordan  . . . 


WHBBB  KDUCATEO. 


Kilkenny  CoUVe,  Ireland. 

U  U  It 


It  tl  it 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College, 
tl  It  It 

tt  it  tl 

Seminary  at  Montreal. . . . 


St  Mary's  Coll.,  Balllm'e. 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 
St.  Mary's  Coll.,  Baltim'e. 


Propaganda,  Rome 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College 

Chambly  and  Mount  8t 

Mary's  College 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 

tt  tt  tl 

St  Mary's  Coll.,  Baltim'e. 


Seminary  at  Montreal. 
Chambly 


WHEN 
ORDAINED. 


Seminary  at  Montreal  and 

St  Mary's  Coll.,  Balti'e. 

Mount  St  Mary's  College. 


Lafargeville  &  Fordham . 

Fordliam 

Lafargeville  &  Fordham. 

Propaganda,  Rome 

Lafargeville 


Fordham 

Mount  St  Mary's  College. 


It 
II 


Lafargeville  and  Fordham 

It  It 

Hem.  of  St  Charles  Boro- 
meo,  Phil.,  &  Fordham. 

Seminary  at  Fordham  . . . 

St  Sulpice,  Paris,  &  Sem- 
inary at  Fordham 

Seminary  at  Fordham. . . . 


A.  D.  1815. 
A.  D.  1820. 
A,  D.  1821. 
A.  D.  1822. 
A.  D,  1828. 
A.  D.  1825. 
Jan.  1, 1827. 
Septem.,  182T. 
Dec.  24. 1827. 
Sept  8, 1829. 
Sept  19, 1829. 
Oct  15, 1881. 

June  11, 1882. 
Nov.  9, 1882. 

Aprl!  28, 1888. 
Sept  U,  1888. 
Jan.  12, 1834. 
Sept  12, 1834. 
Dec.  8, 1834. 
May  20, 1885. 
July  14,  1885. 
March  25, 1836, 
June  25, 1836. 

Dec.  18, 1888. 
Oct  18, 1840. 


Jan.  5, 1841. 


Aug.  29,  1841. 
Dec.  18, 1841. 


June  4, 1842,  St 
Marv's  Chap- 
el, Fordham. 
II 

Jan.29,1848,8t 
Mary's  Chap- 
el, Fordham. 

Jan.  29, 1843. 


March  2, 1844. 


April  14, 1844 


BT  WHOU. 


Bishop  OonnoHy. 


II 


Bishop  Dubois. 


Bish'p  Kenrick  of 

Philadelphia. 
Eiiibop  DuDois. 


tl 
11 
II 
tl 
tl 


Bishop  Hughes. 


II 
w 

II 


Card'al  FranzonL 
Bishop  Hughes. 


II 
i( 
II 


II 
u 

M 
II 
l( 

II 
II 

M 
M 
M 
M 


APPENDIX. 


657 


WHEN 

VAMXS. 

WUESK  XDUOiLTII\ 

OBDAINKD. 

BT  WHOM. 

Kev.  John  Hackett 

Seminary  at  Fordham  . . . 

April  14, 1344. 

Bishop  Hughes. 
Bia'p  M'Closkey. 

Rev.  John  Sheririan 

"                " 

Aug.  15,  1S44. 

Kev.  Tliomas  M'Evoy    . . 
Rev.  William  O'Reilly... 

li                           u 

" 

11 

"                   "        '.'.'.', 

11 

II 

Kev.  Sylvester  Malone. . . 
Rev.  Matthew  Illeglns. . . 
Rev.  George  M'Closkey. . 

"           "     ! ! !  * 

II 

li 

"           "     '.'." 

II 

ii 

U                                  tl 

u 

ti 

Rev.  Patrick  Kenny 

Propaganda,  Rome,   and 

Fordham 

u 

M 

Eev.F.P.MTarland.... 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College, 

and  Fordham 

May  18, 1846. 

Bishop  Hughes. 

Rev.  Valentine  Burgos. . . 

St  Si:lpice  and  Seminary 

at  Fordham  

11 
II 

II 

Rev.  Patrick  M'Kenna. . . 

Seminary  at  Fordham  . . . 

II 

Rev. John  JTMenomy... 

U                                  i( 

II 

II 

Rev.  Patrick  Murphy 

"                   "        '.'.'.'. 

Oct  21, 1846. 

li 

Rev.  J.   W.    Cummings, 

D.D 

Propaganda,  Rome 

Seminary  at  Fordham.. .. 
Scholastic  S.  J 

Jan.  8, 1847. 

Monsig.  BrnnellL 
Bis'p  M'Closkey. 

Rev.  James  Hourigan  . . . 

Feb.  7,  1847. 

Re  V.  M.  Fcrrard 

.1 
May  80, 1847. 

tft 

Rev.  Eugene  Maguire .... 
Rev.  Thomas  Daly 

Seminary  at  Fordham 

Blshon  Hughes. 

u                                  H 

II 

u 

Rev.  John  Curoe 

Mount  St.  Mary's,  and"  si 

Joseph's  Seminary 

II 

11 

Rev.  Dennis  Wheeler 

Mount  St  Mary's,  and  St 

Joseph's  Seminary 

11 

it 

Rev.  Aagustus  Eegnier  . . 

Scholastic  S.  J 

II 

II 

Rev.  Charles  Sheansky  , . 

« 

II 

l< 

Rev.  Augustus  Kohler. . . 

i4 

II 

II 

Rev.  James  O'Sullivan. . . 

St  Joseph's  Seminary. . . . 

Aug.  80, 1847. 

Bis'p  M'Closkey. 

Rev.  Bernard  J.  M'Quaid. 

"             " 

Jan.  16, 184S. 

Bishop  Hughes. 

Rev.  John  M.  Murphy  . . . 
Rev.  Thomas  Ouellet 

l<                      u 

II 

li 

Scholastic  S.  J 

II 
May  8, 1S48. 

li 

Rev.  Francis  M'Keone. . . 

St.  Joseph's  Seminary. . . . 

ii 

Rev.  John  Boyie 

Rev,  Thomas  Farrell  .... 

"              "        . . 

II 

ii 

Mount  St.  Mary's  College. 

II 

it 

Rev.  Edward  Reilly 

St.  Joseph's  Seminary 

Sept.  23, 1848. 

11 

Rev.  lohn  Quinn 

"              " 

II 

11 

Rev.  Stephen  Sheridan  . . 

t(              II 

June  14,  1849. 

II 

Rev.  Thomas  Quinn 

"              "        '.'.'.'. 

II 

li 

Rev.  J.  Xavier  Marechal. 

Schohst.c  S.  J 

II 

II 

Rev.  Claude  Pernot 

It 

II 

ii 

Rev.  John  B.  Duffy 

Rev.  John  Ranfeisen  .... 

RedemptorSst 

it 

St  Joseph's  Seminary 

Oct  3, 1849. 

li 

Rev.  Edward  Briady 

Seminary  of  Montreal 

" 

.1 

Rev.  Thomas  Doran 

St  Joseph's  Seminary.. . . 

Nov.  1, 1849. 

Bis'p  M'Closkey. 

Rev.  John  Carroll 

11              II         ... 

Dec.  22, 1849. 

Bishop  Hughes. 

Rev.  Henry  O'Neill 

"              " 

U 

.( 

Rev.  Patrick  M'Carthy  . . 

11              II 

(C 

ii 

Rev.  Michael  Madden 

II              II 

May25,  la-vO. 

It 

Rev.  Hugh  Sweeny  

II              i< 

t>i 

It 

Rev.  Victor  Beaudevin  . . 

Scholastic  8.  J. 

(( 

ii 

II 

Rev.  Marie  Desjacques. . . 

Rev.  Theodore  Thiry 

Rev.  John  Comerford 

II 

II 

II 

Nov.  16, 1850, 

It 

St  Joseph's  Seminary — 

Bis'p  M'Closkey. 

T'.ev.  John  M.  Forbes 

II              II 

II 

41 

Rev.  Thomas  S.  Preston  . 

11              II 

11 

ti 

Rev.  John  Rejran 

II              ii 

II 

II 

iiev.  Eugene  Cassidy 

II             «i        [  j 

Aug.  1, 1851. 

Archh'p  Hughes, 

Rev.  Thomas  M'Laughlin. 

II              <i 

II 

It 

Rev.  Daniel  Mugan 

Mount  St  Mary's  College. 

u 

u 

558 


APPENDIX. 


MAUE. 

WHXBS  EOVOATXD. 

WHEN 
ORDAINED. 

BY  WHOM. 

Eev.  Thomas  Mulrlne. .. 

Mount  8L  Mary's  College 

Aug.  12.  1861. 

Archb'p  HuKbea, 

Rev.  Janjes  Coyle 

Kev.  'I'itus  Joslin 

St  Joseph's  Seminary 

March  18, 1862. 

ii      ' 

U                            t( 

it 

it 

Kev.  Cornelius  Delubunty 

"                " 

It 

it 

Rev.  James  Wcger 

Scholastic  8.  J. 

it 

it 

Kev.  Arthur  J.  Donnelly. 

St  Joseph's  Seminary. . . . 
Mount  St  Mary's  College. 

Oct  6, 1862. 

tt 

Rev.  Andrew  Bohan  .... 

it 

It 

Rev.  WilUara  M'Oloskey. 

U                     U         "                11 

it 

It 

Eev.  Patrick  O'Neill 

MaynooU  "'ollege 

It 

>i 

Rev.  Patrick  Eean 

Rev.  Bernard  h  arrell 

St.  Josepu's  deminary 

Jan.  29, 1868. 

it 

ii              ti 

It 

It 

Rev.  Patrick  M  Govern. . 

ii             Ii 

u 

it 

Rev.  Thomas  Mooney  . . . 

ii             ii 

it 

it 

Il«v.  William  Everett  . . . 

"              'i 

It 

it 

Rev.  Benj.  Allaire 

ii             ii 

Oct  16, 1863. 

ArchblB'p  Bedinl 

Rev.  Martin  Dowling.... 

ii              it 

Ii 

n 

Rev.  Daniel  Durning 

ii              ii 

it 

It 

Rev.  Williiim  Keegaii 

ii             ii 

it 

it 

Kev.  Chas.  Oicaterri.  8.  J. . 

it 
It 
It 

II 

Rev.  <Jo8t.'|ili  C'aredda.  8.J. 

M 

Kev.  Peter  Tissot,  S  J 

It 

Kev.  Pet.  P.  llilienmeyer, 

S.  J 

Jan.  21, 1664. 

Bishop  Loughlin. 

II 

Rev.  Peter  M'Carron 

St  Joseph's  Seminary — 

ti 

Rev.  Benj. OCaliaghan... 

li*^            ii 

it 

ii 

Rev.  James  Breniian 

ii              ii 

ti 

It 

Kev.  Patrick  Mahoney. . . 

"              " 

it 

It 

Kev.  Francis  J.  Buldanf. . 

ti              it 

Aug.  17, 1854 

Archb'p  Hughes. 

Rev.  John  Ciimnbell 

Kev.  Francis  MNearney. 

it              it 

11 

II 

it              It 

ii 

ii 

Kev.  Edward  Lynch 

it              it 

(t 

11 

Rev.  James  Kelly 

Rev.  Cornelius  Canning. . 

ti              II 

it 

it 

II              It 

It 

it 

Rev.  Philip  M'Mahon.... 

it              It 

it 

it 

Rev.  John  Barry 

II              II 

Dec.  23, 1854 

Bishop  Loughlin. 

Rev.  Edward  M'Glnn 

It              II 

44 

it 

Rev.  John  Murray 

ii              ti 

4t 

It 

Rev.  Jatnes  Boyce 

Ii              it 

Aug.  17, 1866. 

Archb'p  Hughes. 

Rev.  John  M  Evoy 

It              t'. 

°    it 

.1 

Rev.  Philip  O'Donohue.. 

ii              II 

11 

It 

Kev,  John  M'Dermott . . . 

ii              11 

ti 

It 

Rev.  Johu  Majfer 

ii              11 

it 

it 

Kev.  J.  A.  Cunningham, 

8.  J :..... 

It 
It 

u 

Rev.  Hen.  M.  Hndon,  8.  J. 

ti 

Rev.  Philip  H.Choniii,S.J. 
Rev.  John  M.  Aub  er,  8. J. 

CI 

tt 

ti 

it 

Ordinations  in  the  Diocese  of  Brooklyn. 


NAME. 

•WHEN  ORDAINED. 

BY  WHOM. 

Rev.  John  Dowling. 

August  13,  1854 

^ptember  22, 1854 

August  15, 1856 

May  1,  1856. 

Bisliop  Loughlin. 

it 

Rev.  Kliihard  Baxter,  8.  J 

Rev.  Thomas  W.  McCleerv 

Rev.  Daniel  Whelan 

II 

Rev.  Aloysius  Euders 

11 

B< 


APPEN'>IX. 


OltDINATIONa   IN   THE  DiOCESE   OF    AtBANY. 


559 


NAMIS. 


WnKRK  KDCOATKD. 


Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev, 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 
Rev. 


K  .  John's,  Fordhw  1 
..  -ish  College,  Paris. 


Maynooth,  Ireland... 
Irish  College,  Paris. 


John  J.  Herbttt.... 

Micliael  Power 

William  McCallion. 
H«)nry  i  jrfkins.... 
Eilgar  P.  Wadhams  ..!St.Sulplce,Baltlraore,Md. 

Michael  Hacket 

Patrick  Kenna.'. 

Mnurlce  Koohe 

Maurice  ShMhan 

William  Coghlan 

Michael  Clarke 

Bartholom.  McLoghlin 

Thomas  Callan 

Eugene  Carroll 

Cornelius  Fitzpatrick 

JameA  "mith 

Jf^^epu  xtleyer 

uls  Desroches. .... 

'•  in  Ludlen 

Ciiarles  Biady 


DATB  OP  ORDINA- 
TION. 


Mt  8t  Mary's,  Emmetsb. 
St.  John's,  Fordbam 


Montreal 


Montreal . 

St.  John's,  Fordbam . 


Julvl';,  1347. 
November,  1848. 


January  18, 1850. 
May  8, 1850. 

August  15, 1860. 
May  8, 1850. 

August  16, 1860. 
1851. 

Eastertide,  1852. 
Pentecost,  1858. 
1868. 

Summer  1858. 
1853. 

January  21, 1854. 
December  6,1854 


BT  WHOM. 


Bp.  McCloskey. 


ti 
It 

u 
it 

u 
It 
u 
it 

t{ 
u 
u 
It 
u 
u 


Ordinations  in  the  Diocese  of  Buffalo. 


Kev. 
Eev. 
Rev. 
ILpv. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Rev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev, 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Rev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Eev. 
Rev. 


Edmund  O'Connor Ordained 

John  Donnelly " 

John  Fitzpatrick •' 

Michael  O'Brien " 

Joseph  Bigglo " 

Peter  Bede " 

Charies  Tierney. " 

Michael  Walsh " 

M.  Bcheuiger. . ,  " 

Thomas  Cunningham " 

Joseph  Lennon " 

Eichard  Harmon " 

Francis  N.  Lester . , " 

Francis  8.  Urich " 

Daniel  Dolan " 

Peter  Colgan " 

William  Stephens " 

Daniel  Moore ■  " 

Francis  Krautbauer " 

Francis  O.  Farrell .  " 

Nicholas  Burns " 

J.Early " 

Bernard  McCool " 

Thomas  Brady -  " 

Martin  Kavanagh " 

Michael  Purcell " 

William  Gleeson i» " 

Eichard  Storey " 

N.Geimar " 


April  22, 1848. 

1848. 

1818. 

1849. 

1849. 
March  80, 1849. 
June  17, 1849 
June  17, 1849. 

1849. 
September  15, 1850. 
September  22, 1860. 
1860. 
"  1860. 

"  1850. 

December  22, 1860. 
»  1850. 

March  9,  1851. 
April  27, 1851. 
Jane,  1861. 
July  19, 1851. 
October,  1852, 
May,  1853. 
January,  1864. 
January,  1864 
AugLSt,  1854 
1854 
1854. 
1856. 
1864. 


56( 


APPENDIX. 


V. 

DOCUMENTS  r.^'.LAT^NG  TO  THE   NUNCIATURE  OF  Tfi  P.  MOST 

iiEV.  C.  BEDINI,  ARCHBISHOP  OF  THEBEP 

[From  the  New  York  Freeman's  Joarnal,  Saturday,  April  8th,  1804.] 

Thb  New  York  Express  feigns  surpriwe  that,  in  his  letter  to  the  Arolibishop 
of  Baltimore,  Monseigneur  Bedini  floca  not  speak  of  Ugo  Bassi,  and  does 
not  descend  to  a  justification  of  lum.-ielf  from  the  calumnies  of  which  that 
paper  made  itself  so  accommodating  an  echo.  But  the  Express  forgets  that 
the  Nuncio  did  not  address  his  communication  to  the  Messrs.  Brooks ;  and 
does  it  suppose  that  we.  Catholics,  need  to  have  the  charges  of  the  Italliin 
refugees  refuted  ?  The  Excess,  however,  is  too  quick  in  its  exultation,  if  it 
thinks  that  n  :>  one  is  occupied  in  gathering  together  the  authentic  pi  jof»  of 
the  falsehood  of  what  the  Italian  emigrants  have  so  shamelessly  uttered. 
We  have  accepted  the  part  that  it  was  not  proper  for  the  eminent  character 
of  a  Pontifical  Envoy  to  assume,  because  it  belongs  to  the  press  to  undo  tlie 
evil  done  by  the  press,  and  we  assure  the  editor  of  the  Express  that  he 
shall  have  lost  nothing  by  waiting.  Wo  have  taken  the  pains  to  send  to 
Bologna  some  copies  of  the  Express  containing  the  report  of  the  Italiim 
meeting  of  last  February  (7th),  the  time  when  those  unhuppy  people  showed 
the  ass's  courage  in  kicking  at  their  absent  victim,  Monseigneur  having  de- 
parted two  days  before.  The  Wall-street  journal  must  feel  very  strange, 
finding  itself  in.  the  hands  of  honorable  men  in  Bologna ;  but,  in  fact,  wo 
had  a  desire  to  sho  v  io  what  a  degree  of  madness  the  enemies  of  the  Papacy 
give  themselves  v.-y  h\  the  blindness  of  their  hatred.  We  asked,  at  the 
same  time,  that  <.■  c  ,0  ic  whom  we  sent  the  Express  would  be  kind  enough 
to  furnish  us  s'^>-tu-  feuthentic  documents  relative  to  the  military  executions 
of  1849  and  1850.  Tba  following  is  the  reply  we  receive  from  an  honorable 
judge  jf  the  Tribunaie  d' Appelo : 

**  Bologna,  March  4,  1854. 

*  *  *  «« J  gee  no  better  way  of  answering  the  calumniators  of  Mon- 
seigneur Bodini,  than  to  send  to  America  an  authentic  copy  of  the  military 
ordinances  of  1849  and  1850,  by  which  martial  law  was  proclaimed,  and  the 
military  tribunal  established ;  and  I  might  join  to  this  a  copy,  word  for 
word,  of  the  diflferent  condemnations  which  were  successively  pronounced. 
All  these  sentences  are,  without  one  exception,  pronounced  by  a  judgment 
civil  and  military  ('  Quidizio  Statario  e  militario'),  and  signed  by  the  general 
in  command,  who  was  at  once  civil  and  military  governor.  The  fifty  indi- 
viduals cited  by  the  American  papers  f.8  having  been  put  to  death  and 
skinned  by  Monseigneur  while  he  was  Pontifical  Commissioner  Extraordi- 
nary, I  find  recorded  in  the  gazettes  of  Bologna  between  the  months  of 
May,  1849,  and  September,  1850;  and  I  read  there  that  they  wero  all  ar- 
rested, condemned,  and  shot  by  the  Austrian  military  commandant,  and 
not  by  the  Pontifical  Commissioner ;  and  their  condemnations,  as  well  as  the 
consequent  executions,  are  published  by  notifications  signed  by  the  mili- 
tary governor  himself.    On  collecting  these  various  items,  with  tlndr  re. 


)  / 


APPENDIX. 


661 


<5  pvin|)athizing,  active  pro- 


'putfHtble  when  he  thinks 
Hlush.  • 

Ms. 


opcc'ivo  dates,  r.nct  nending  them  to  America  for  publication,  it  seoros  to  me 
that  MonHcignenr  will  bo  made  to  triumph  over  hia  calumnitttors,  and  that 
they  will  be  forced  to  bluHh  for  their  wiokedne»H.  I  have  commenced  tlie 
examination  of  these  documentn,  and  if  you  wiuh,  I  will  continue  the  liibor. 
•' Yenterday  I  went  from  house  to  houde,  fni  i  office  to  office,  to  an- 
nounce to  hia  fVionda  the  good  nowfi  of  Monaeigtiour's  arrival  at  Rome,  and 
to  all  't  was  a  joy,  a  comfort,  an  agreeable  surprise.  The  happy  return  of 
hia  Excellence  seemed  to  every  one  aa  a  cause  of  thankfulneaa  to  God,  and 
as  glad  tiding!*,  and  a  reason  for  h(  mo.  In  ow-  word,  the  people  here  regard 
him  as  a  messenger  of  God  and  of  peac 
tector  of  every  one  that  has  need  of  help.' 

The  honest  judge,  howevi   ,  dreams  of  t1 
any  thing  can  bo  done  to  make  these  caliu 

lis  He  sent  fait  un  front  qui    <)  r 

"Their  cheek  has  lost  the  pow<  i." 

But  beyond  those  artiticers  of  falsehood,  who  have  curs  and  hear  not,  and 
outside  of  Catholics  who  have  no  need  of  any  refutation,  there  is  the  great 
mass  of  the  American  public,  who  have  no  otiier  desire  than  to  ascertain 
the  facts ;  and  it  is  for  these  that  we  will  cause  all  the  documents  tt  t>e 
brought  forward  of  which  our  correspondent  speaks. 

If,  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  high  political  functions,  Monsoigneur 
Bedini  had  been  reduced  to  the  sad  necessity  of  signing  any  sentence  of 
death,  we  would  not  seek  to  exonerate  him  from  a  responsibility  that  bo- 
longed  to  him.  Washington  waa  not  an  assassin  for  having  signed  the 
death-warrant  of  Major  Andr6 ;  and  he  would  have  sent  Arnold  as  well  to 
the  scaffold,  had  the  traitor  fallen  into  hia  hands.  But  it  is  a  proper  thing 
to  see  that  there  is  *'  rendered  to  Csesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,"  and  to 
Austria  tho  things  that  belong  to  Austria. 

Apropot,  we  have  not  yet  heard  that  the  Secretary  of  State  has  found 
the  famous  letter  of  Lewis  Cass,  Jr.,  which  had  announced  officially 
to  our  government  the  mission  intrusted  to  Monseigneur  Bedini.  But  we 
have  in  its  place  a  document  written  by  Mr.  Cass  to  Monseigneur  Bedini 
during  the  Lent  of  the  last  year,  to  recommend  to  him  several  Americans 
who  desired  to  assist  at  the  procession  of  Palm  Sunday,  and  to  receive  a 
palm  from  the  hands  of  His  Holiness.  The  letter  terminates  with  these 
words : 

"iVW  our  countrymen  consider  they  have  a  right  to  address  themselves 
to  you,  especially  as  I  have  already  announced  to  my  government  your  com- 
plimentary mis8ion,/tf/*  whicJi  lean  assure  you  beforehand  a  most  distinguished 
reception.''''* 

Mr.  Cass,  in  writing  thece  lines,  had  not  his  eye  on  the  Italians  of  New 
York.— H.  D.  C. 

♦  The  words  were  written  in  French  by  Mr.  Cass,  and  we  give  thorn : 
"Maintenant  nos  compatrlotes  s'imaginent  avoir  lo  droit  de  s'adresser  A  vous,  8p6- 
cialmont  comtne  j"al  deji  annonco  d  nion  gouverneinent  votro  mission  complimen- 
taire,  pour  Jaquolle  je  pals  vous  assurer  d'avance  une  reception  bien  distinguSe.'" 

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APPENDIX. 


I  t 


Tbs  Itauan  Patriots  versus  Bedini — Highly  Intebestino  Speeohis— 

CONDKMNATOKY    RESOLUTIONS  AND   UNANIMOUS   FaoOEEDINOS. 

[Reported  for  the  New  York  Express.] 

A  VERT  large  assemblage  of  the  Italians  who  were  obliged  to  fly  their 
country  for  their  devotion  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  1848,  gathered  last  night 
at  the  Stuyvesant  Institute,  in  order  formally,  and  as  a  body,  to  deolure  their 
opinions  as  to  the  public  and  private  character  of  Monseigneur  Bedini. 
The  room  of  the  Young  Men's  Democratic  National  Club  was  excessively 
crowded  by  the  exiles,  among  whom  we  observed  several  Italian  ladies. 
The  proceedings  were  marked  by  the  warmest  enthusiasm,  and  the  com- 
pletest  unanimity  of  feeling  and  action. 

At  .eight  o'clock,  Signer  Gajani  nominated  Professor  Felix  Foresti  as 
Chairman,  which  the  meeting  unanimously  approved. 

Signer  Gajani,  in  turn,  was  elected  Vice-president,  and  Signor  Manetta, 
Secretary. 

Letters  of  apology  were  received  from  General  Avezzana  and  Mr.  .Hugh 
Forbes,  both  of  whom  declared  their  sympathies  with  the  objects  <>f  the 
meeting,  but  were  unavoidably  absent  from  serious  indisposition. 

A  deputation  of  Frenchmen,  from  the  "Mountain  Division  of  the  Society 
of  Universal  Kepublicans,"  here  entered  the  room,  and  proceeded  to  the 
President's  table ;  they  were  received  with  great  cheering.  One  of  their 
number  addressed  the  President  on  behalf  of  the  Society,  after  which  they 
retired  to  the  front  form,  and  remained  during  the  entire  proceedings. 

Signor  Foresti  then  rose,  amid  reiterated  applause  and  shouts  of  "  Bravo," 
to  address  the  meeting.    He  spoke  in  Italian,  to  this  effect : 

" Bedini  entered  the  conquered  city  with  his  Croats. 

He,  clothed  with  perfect  sovereign  power,  proclaimed  martial  law  throughout 
idl  the  territory  of  the  Four  Legations.  By  this  brutal  law  are  suspended 
at  once  all  other  laws,  preservative  of  order  and  justice ;  customary  forms  of 
procedure  abol  shed ;  judges  are  constituted  from  soldiers  of  rank,  and  sen- 
tence is  summarily  passed,  by  tap  of  drum,  to  death,  to  the  gaUeys,  to 
exile,  to  the  bastinado.  This  law  was  enforced  by  a  priest — by  Bedini.  It 
came  not,  it  could  not  come,  from  the  Austrian  general.  To  make  or  ab- 
rogate laws  is  an  attribute  of  sovereignty,  and  this  attribute  had  been  dele- 
gated by  the  Pope  to  Bedini,  and  not  to  the  general.  But  this  law  was  a 
terrible  instrument  of  vengeance  in  the  hands  of  Bedini,  and  he  made  use 
of  it  without  mercy.  We  defy  the  apologists  of  Bedini  to  deny  it.  Let 
them  read  all  the  journals  in  the  pay  of  the  government  at  that  accursed 
epoch.  They  will  see  that  in  Bologna,  in  other  cities,  in  the  towns  or  vil- 
lages of  the  Four  Legations,  there  were  published  numerous  sentences  of 
death,  of  imprisonment,  or  of  exile.  They  may  find  in  these  journals  the 
names  of  the  victims,  and  the  day  of  their  sacrifice.  They  will  see  that 
the  police  of  Bedini,  like  hungry  wild  beasts,  hunted  after  and  ferreted  out 
the  republicans.  On  overy  side,  families  had  some  of  their  members  under 
interdiction  from  leaving  the  house  under  severe  penalties  ;  others  sutferiiig 
domiciliary  perquisitions  for  suspected  papers ;  at  the  post-offlco,  the  sa 


-^. -,;,.,.-.,. 


APPENDIX. 


563 


ervdnesv  of  sealed  letters  wa»  violated ;  persons  were  sammarily  banished 
without  form  of  trial ;  for  the  slightest  doabtful  expression,  or  even  word; 
for  the  slightest  nuapioion  was  awarded  prison  and  persecution.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Bedini  was,  in  nhort,  a  real  reign  of  terror. 

"  Bedini,  say  his  apologists,  had  not  the  right  or  the  power  to  oheok  or 
modify  the  evils  arising  from  the  existence  of  martial  law  in  the  provinces. 
But  I  ask,  who  could  and  who  did  proclaim  this  martHal  law  f  The  Sov- 
ereign alone,  the  Pope.  Who  represented  the  Pope  in  the  Four  Legations  f 
Bedini.  What  was  the  position  of  the  Austrian  general  in  Bologna !  Sim- 
ply that  of  a  general,  called  and  paid,  together  with  his  troops,  to  reconquer 
for  the  Pope  the  Romagna  from  the  power  of  the  Bepublicans.  The  spirit 
and  the  will  was  Bedini — the  corporeal  part  of  the  compound  was  the  Aus- 
trian general.  Who  collected  and  put  into  judicial  form  the  evidence  and 
the  witnesses  to  condemn  the  patriots  ?  The  local  police.  Who  arrested 
the  persons  suspected !  Who  assigned  their  prisons  ?  Who  directed  their 
administration  !  Who  named  the  Italian  ConcUUre  of  the  court-martial  t 
Who  caused  the  accused  to  bo  brought  before  the  court-martial  ?  The  local 
police.    Who  was  it  who  directed  this  policb  t    Bedini. 

"  For  these  reasons,  the  populations  of  the  Bomagna  do  not  curse  so  much 
the  court-martial,  but  Bedini. 

"  Had  such  a  service  been  undertaken  by  a  military  officer,  he  would,  like 
Haynau,  have  lost  every  particle  of  reputation  for  humanity.  But  what 
shall  we  say  of  a  priest,  a  minister  of  God,  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  a  mes- 
senger of  peace,  who  can  undertake  such  an  office  V* 

M.  G.  Gajani  next  addressed  the  meeting,  as  follows : 

"  ITgo  Bassi  had  also  landed,  and  was  seeking  an 

asylum  in  the  same  wood,  when  he  was  taken  and  made  prisoner  of  war. 
The  body  of  troops  who  captured  him  was  commanded  by  Prince  Ernest, 
son  of  the  Archduke  Bassini,  who  sent  Bassi,  with  the  other  prisoners,  to 
Bologna,  to  be  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  '  Extraordinary  Commissioner 
from  the  Four  Legations.*  This  post  is  most  important,  because  it  bestows 
sovereign  power,  and  is  no>ver  created  but  in  very  perilous  times,  and  is 
always  given  to  a  prospective  cardinal-legate ;  but  it  was  then  held  by 
Bedini,  because  no  cardinal  dared  go  to  Bologna  at  that  period.  Each 
Extraordinary  Commissioner  has  annexed  a  so-called  military  commission, 
to  judge  political  crimes,  of  which  ccuncil  he  is  the  supreme  president ;  it 
is  composed  of  the  most  infamous  of  the  Pope's  police.  Bedini  had  added 
to  it  some  Austrian  officers,  but  only  for  form  sake,  as  they  did  not  under- 
stand the  Italian  language.  General  Gorzkowski,  who  commanded  the  Aus- 
trian garrison  at  Bologna,  had  not  the  least  authority  over  this  counoilf 
which  alone  was  invested  with  judicial  authority,  and  continued  to  sen- 
tence criminals  during  the  whole  time  that  Bedini  was  there.  Furthermore, 
this  general,  who  was  iu  Italy  for  the  first  time,  and  was  ignorant  of  our 
language  and  our  a£fairs,  certainly  knew  nothing  of  Bassi,  and  it  could  have 
been  no  advantage  to  him  to  execute  a  poor  priest  who  had  offended  ih« 
Popib  by  becoming  a  Christian ;  and  if  he  had  known  him,  he  might  petsi- 


564 


APPENDIX. 


)  i 


bly  h»ve  Bympathy  with  him,  for  Qeneral  Oorzkowski  is  not  a  Bomanist 
Bat  Bedini,  who  felt  againnt  Baasi  malignity  of  oaate,  and  the  hatred  of  the 
vile  againut  the  great  and  virtuous,  sent  him  to  the  Commission,  with  or- 
ders to  condemn  him  to  death;  but  so  great  was  Baasi^s  reputation  for 
tAlent  and  virtue,  that  even  these  vile  instruments  of  barbarous  vengeance 
hesitated.  Bedini  (so  says  a  Turin  paper)  entered  the  council-chamber,  and 
ordered  the  sentence  of  death  to  be  pronounced.  The  whole  city  was  in 
commotion,  and  multitudes  interceded  for  Bassi,  among  whom  was  the  old 
Cardinal-archbishop  Oppizzoni ;  but  Bedini  was  inexorable,  and  cited  a 
special  order  of  the  Pope  which  he  had  received  previously  to  the  capture. 
Thus  it  is  not  he,  but  his  officious  defenders,  who  wish  to  shoulder  the 
crime  upon  the  Austrian  general." 


Speech  of  Siomob  Manbtta. 

"  The  friar  Ugo  Bassi,  that  spirit  fired  with  poetic 

patriotism,  was  made  prisoner  by  the  Austriaus,  at  the  same  time  with 
Ludovico  Liveraghi.  Being  sent  to  Bclogna,  his  native  city,  he  was  jol^ned 
on  the  way  by  other  prisoners,  whom  the  Papal  troops  ha«l  hunted  without 
mercy.  On  the  7th  of  August,  those  unhappy  men  entered  Bologna.  What 
had  happened  was  known  to  all  the  city.  Bassi  and  Liveraghi  being 
brought,  by  a  mock  process,  before  a  court-martial,  were  condemned  to 
death.  The  Canon  Oppizzoni,  to  whom  many  impute  the  murder  of  the 
Bolognese  monk,  made  a  visit  to  Bedini  on  this  subject.  Bedini,  speaking 
of  Bassi,  said,  with  cold  and  implacable  hardness  of  heart,  '  The  Pope  de- 
sires his  death.'  Before  executing  his  sentence,  he  determined  that  he 
should  be  barbarously  martyred.  The  priests  of  the  Vatican  do  not  content 
themselves  with  killing— that  is  a  small  revenge  for  them — they  wish  to  feel 
the  vitals  of  their  dying  victims  'nitate  in  their  hands — they  wi«ih  to  be 
drunk  with  blood — they  desire  t  cate  the  hyena,  who,  before  devouring 
his  prey,  tyrannizes  over  its  agoi<  bs  for  a  whole  day.  Ugo  Bassi  was  dis- 
oonsecrated !  The  parts  which  had  been  anointed  with  the  holy  oil  were 
skinned  with  the  knives  of  the  priests ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  8th, 
seven  Croat  bullets  completed  the  sacrilegious  holocaust." 

'  Mr.  Bisco  next  t'ddressed  the  meeting  in  Italian,  showing  that  Bedini 
was  the  person  responsible  for  the  barbarities  committed  in  the  Four  Lega- 
tions, during  his  administration  of  the  government  from  1849  to  1852.  lie 
especially  demonstrated  the  falsehood  of  the  assertion,  that  Ugo  Bassi  had 
been  executed  in  the  hurry  of  martial  law  and  insurrection.  Ugo  Bassi,  he 
aaid,  was  taken  prisoner,  near  Comachio,  by  a  patrol  of  Papal  gend'arms 
and  Croats  niixed,  and  was  conducted  about  fifty  miles,  to  Bologna.  Bedini 
himself  urged  his  condemnation,  while  the  Archbishop  of  Bologna  exerted 
all  the  influence  he  possessed  to  have  him  spared.  There  was  considerable 
time  consumed  in  all  this,  and  in  the  ceremony  of  desecration,  so  cruelly 
performed  by  the  orders  of  Bodini — so  much  time  as  to  let  the  circumstance 
of  his  condemnation  become  a  fact  well  known  through  the  whole  city  the 
night  procpclinff  his  execution,  which  occurred  at  5  p.  M.  on  the  morning  of 


,.:tj.^,i.)i. .    ^.  .-.: 


APPENDIX. 


665 


Angtwt  8, 1848.  His  destrnotion  had  long  been  decided  upon  by  tbe  Papal 
authorities,  if  ever  he  fell  into  their  hands.  His  having  sincerely  preached 
liberal  doctrines  was  a  crime  unpardonable  in  tlie  eyes  of  the  Popish  ec- 
clesiastics. Had  Ugo  Bassi  been  guilty  of  rape,  murder,  theft,  or  any  thing, 
such  crimes  as  we  consider  infamous,  we  know,  by  too  many  examples,  that 
the  incompetency  of  any  secular  tribunal  to  judge  him  would  have  been 
instantly  insisted  on  by  the  Romish  clerical  authorities,  for  the  honor  and 
inviolability  of  the  sacred  office  of  priest." 

The  resolutions,  which  had  previously  been  presented  in  Italian  by  Signor 
Oajani,  were  now  read  in  English  by  Theodore  Dwight,  Esq.,  and  passed 
unanimously. 

"Jiesolved,  That  this  meeting  echoes  the  universal  sentinrent  of  the  Italian 
people,  in  denouncing  Bedini  as  the  spy  of  the  Pope  in  Bologna — as  the 
implacable,  cruel,  vindictive  enemy  of  all  republicans ;  and  as  the  person 
next  responsible  after  the  Pope  for  the  butchery  perpetrated  at  Bologna. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  various  nationalities  who  have  so  generously  demon- 
strated their  sympathy  for  the  oppressed  Italians,  and  their  horror  for  the 
butcher  of  Bologna,  are  entitled  to  our  warm  thanks. 

^^Besohedy  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  forwarded  to  Bedini  and 
to  the  Pope." 


[From  the  New  York  Express.] 
A  Call  fob  Information. 

Monseigneur  Bedini,  it  is  charged,  during  the  revo- 
lutionary struggle  f6r  freedom  in  Italy,  in  1849  and  1850,  ordered  to  execu- 
tion a  large  number  of  persons  who  had  espoused  the  liberal  cause.  Nay, 
not  only  condemned  them  to  death,  but  actually  flayed  them  alive,  and  in- 
dulged in  sundry  other  acts  of  cruelty,  which  only  a  devil  could  devise. 
Thiit  is  the  charge.  It  has  been  made  over  and  over  again.  It  is  thrust  in 
the  face  of  the  Nuncio  wherever  he  goes,  and  we  have  publications  in  which 
names,  dates,  and  other  specifications  are  advanced  thus : 


No. 

Date. 

1. 

May  28, 

S. 

Jane  7, 

& 

u 

4 

It 

& 

N 

6. 

U 

T. 

July  24, 

& 

August  8, 

9. 

u 

10. 

September  1, 

U. 

•»          18, 

1%, 

N                 (1 

18. 

M                 i( 

14. 

M                   tl 

1849. 


STamea. 
A.  Bortolotti , 

Tears  of  Age. 
21 

C.  Mariaui 

28 

L.  Pratl 

24 

G.  Lanzoni 

45 

N.  Sangiorgi 26 

B.  Oermanl 28 

L.Eicel 21 

Ugo  Bassi 48 

G.  Lieraghl f....  48 


S.  Contoli.. 
G.  Pinoohl. 
G.  Scrosta. . 
B.  Plazzl... 
G.  Oorini.. 


19 
23 
60 
40 
40 


066 


APPENDIX. 


mm' 


\ 


1& 

18. 

ir. 
i& 

19. 
M. 
91. 
89. 
9& 
94. 
98. 
98. 
97. 
,  98. 
99. 

88. 
84 
85. 
36b 
tf. 

# 

m 

ii. 
II 

il 

m 
In 

Ii 


DaU. 
Sept         18,  1849. 


u 
tt 


October 


91,  " 

97,  •• 

8,  " 

80,  " 


M 
N 


U 
U 


December  98,  '* 


Janaary    80, 1850. 

ti  It  it 

February  91,  "  . 

March       98,  "  . 

«*          .11  It  ^ 

H               It  it  _ 

M      •■         «i  it  ^ 

M  tt  tt 

April          6,  •♦  , 

September  6,  "  . 


it     it 


M 
W 
H 
M 
M 
M 
M 
M 
N 
W 
« 

a 

M 


tt 
tt 

tt 
u 
tt 
ti 
it 
it 
It 
tt 
tt 
t« 


It 
tt 


tt 
It 
Ii 
it 
ii 
ti 
it 
it 
u 


^  '.  Kamta, 

T.  OorlnL 

G  Scroata 

G.BaldIni 

S.Migani 

0.  Oatti 

A.  Tacconi.... 
N.  Marettl.... 

B.  BIczL 

F.  Lorenzini... 
A.  Tacoonl-... 
O.  Seleri 

A.  Ouerra. 

B.  Caravita . . . 
O.  Orazla 

G.  MoDtanari.. 
D.  Bertoni . . . . 
A.  Cagnazzi . . . 
0.  Montanari . . 
C  Gulmanelli. 
Ii.  Barnffaldi.. 

P.  Zappi 

B.F0IH 

G.  Lamberti. . . 
A.  PoggtalL... 

J.MIrri 

0.  Casolini 

G.  CSontavallL. 

D.  FolII 

L.  Lamberti. . . 

A.  Cazziari 

S.  Borgtai 

G.  AlbertazzL . 

G.  Farolfi 

F.  Mlta 

P.  Meluzzl.... 
A.  GarottL.... 


40 


83 
27 
21 
20 
96 


528 
25 
28 
80 
80 
25 
27 
81 
27 
28 


22 
24 
21 
23 
25 
21 
28 
84 
21 
22 
28 
20 
22 
25 


We  have  said  that  the  execution  of  all,  and  the  extra  torture  of  some,  of 
these  persons,  is  said  to  have  been  the  handiwork  of  Monseigneur  Bedini. 
The  charge  is  made  with  sufficient  deflniteness  and  circumstantiality  to 
entitle  it  certainly  to  consideration,  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  this  ambassador  of  the  Pope  now  finds  himself.  We  do  not  know 
that  the  allegations  are  true.  We  cannot  .say  whether  M.  Bedini  is  a  mur- 
derer or  not.  But  we  should  like  to  know,  and  it  is  with  a  view  to  arrive 
at  the  truth  that  we  give  the  extraordinary  charges  against  him  a  place  in 
our  columns.  We  trust  it  will  have  the  effect  of  bringing  out  the  other  side, 
80  that,  between  the  accused  and  his  accusers,  we  may  be  enabled  to  form 
an  impartial  judgment.  We  do  not  want  vague  denials  for  assertions,  un- 
supported by  acknowledged  facts.  We  earnestly  desire  M.  Bedini's  friends 
to  be  at  leasl  as  specific  and  particular,  as  regards  dates  and  names,  as  his 
op|M>neat8  are.    We  have  had  denials  in  general  terms,  enough,  to  be  sure ; 


7    - 


.  a»'.'j..^j=i.-.-j-.;tj^i.w.v'^'..j--:;»-.-.' 


..  ifittii  M^!(i^->^'s.ti:A*iiiaLi*;^i.#34=*i£?A*li  i^iftiil  i-.i_.5i^-ii?.tiJfUkt«-Jfc-*.i- 


APPENDIX. 


667 


bat  what  we  earnestly  desire  now  are  the  tpeeijleationt.  Is  it  tme  that  th* 
above-mentioned  persons  were  executed  t  Is  it  true  that  tbey  were  exe- 
cuted for  political  offences,  and  that  those  offences  were  committed  daring 
the  revolutionary  struggle  of  1848 }  Is  it  true  that  these  men  came  to 
their  death  by  the  instrumentality  of  Monseigneur  Bedini  ?  Is  it  true  that 
he  not  only  deprived  them  of  life,  but  that  he  compelled  them  to  undergo 
the  moat  excruciating  tortures,  before  life  was  extinct  V  Is  it  true  that  the 
hands  of  this  illustrious  stranger,  whom  our  city  government  have  been 
formally  honoring,  are  red  with  the  blood  of  these  Italian  martyrs  to  Free- 
dom ? We  call  upon  the  friends  of  M.  Bedini  to  come 

out  in  his  defence,  if  they  can ;  to  show  the  groundlessness  of  the  grave 
offences  for  which  he  is  arraigned,  if  they  can.  We  call  upon  the  Freeman'* 
Journal  to  speak  out.  Gentlemen,  give  us  the  documents  1  We  have  heard 
the  prosecution  patiently— wo  are  now  prepared  to  pass  to  the  defence  1 
What  say  you— guilty  or  not  guilty  t 


''■*,>■., 


[From  the  ofBoial  paper,  Oazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  117,  May  18, 1849.] 

^Notification. 

On  account  of  the  stubborn  resistance  made  with  arms  in  hand  to  the  tri- 
umphant Austrian  forces  destined  to  ro-qstablish  in  this  city  as  elsewhere  the 
legitimate  authority  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  and  on  account  of  the  faction  of 
wicked  people,  mostly  foreigners,  who  had  usurped  the  power  in  this  place, 
as  well  as  on  account  of  my  desire  to  bring  about  peace  and  order,  I  have 
come  to  the  determination  of  deelaritiff  for  the  present  that  the  eity  of  Bologna 
is  in  a  state  of  siege.    Accordingly  I  order  what  follows : 

1.  All  persons  who  have  arms  of  any  kind,  long  or  short,  for  cut  or  thrust, 
or  firearms,  and  all  persons  who  have  in  their  possession  gunpowder  or  gun- 
cotton,  or  any  other  warlike  munitions,  shall  be  obliged  to  give  them  all  up 
to  the  Commission  appointed,  and  in  the  place  named  by  the  Magintracy, 
within  forty-eight  hours  from  the  publication  of  the  present  edict.  In  giv- 
ing up  such  property  each  one  is  free  to  accompany  it  with  a  description  of 
the  same,  and  with  his  name,  for  the  purpose  of  reclaiming  what  belongs  to 
him  in  proper  time.  This  dause  does  not  extend  to  the  corps  of  regular 
troops. 

2.  The  Pontifical  Arms  or  Ensigns  shall  be  put  up  again  in  the  usual 
places  without  delay. 

8.  The  political  meetings  known  by  the  name  of  Gircoli,  Casini,  and  other 
such  titles,  are  forbidden. 

4.  Gatherings  in  the  street,  and  other  assemblages  of  a  seditious  nature, 
are  prohibited. 

6.  For  the  present  no  city  gates  shall  remain  open,  except  those  of  San 
Felice,  Galliera,  Magglore,  and  Castiglione,  with  the  proviso  that  they  shall 
')e  closed  from  ten  o'clock  at  night  until  daybreak. 

6.  By  eleven  o'clock  at  night  all  places  of  public  resort  shall  be  closed, 
such   as    Hotels,  Boarding-houses,  Eating-houses,  Taverns,  .Wine-shops, 


568 


APPENDIX. 


\ 


^i 


t  / 


Drinking-honiies,  Coffee-houses,  and  such  like ;  and  citizens  most  retire  tc 
their  dwellings,  not  later  than  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 

In  reference  to  the  persons  of  Physicians  and  Ecclesiastios,  proper  excep- 
tion will  be  made  by  granting  such  licenses  as  may  be  needed. 

7.  The  Press  is  subject  to  censorship  before  publication. 

8.  Volunteer  companies  {corpi  franchi)  of  every  kind  are  disbanded ;  the 
militia  {la  oivioa)  is  suspended,  and  the  former  and  the  latter  shall  give  up 
their  arms  and  munitions. 

It  is  forbidden  to  wear  the  uniform  or  badge  belonging  to  the  bodies 
aforesaid,  or  to  wear  the  tricolor  cockade,  or  other  similtir  party  badges.  It 
is  strictly  enjoined  upon  all  persons,  whose  position  calls  for  it,  to  wear  the 
bicolor  pontifical  cockade. 

Disobedience  and  carelessness  wiU  he  punished  with  the  full  rigor  qf  martial 
lam,  and  let  it  be  well  understood^  that  this  law  condemns  the  offender ^  even  for 
holding  or  keeping  warlike  arms  and  munitions,  by  having  him  tried  by  court- 
martial  (gindizio  statario),  and  shot  within  twenty-four  hours. 

I  hope  that  this  exceptional  state  of  thinga  may  cease  in  a  short  time, 
through  the  good  conduct  and  good  sense  of  the  citizens,  and  that  the  Envoy 
of  His  Holiness,  appointed  to  represent  him,  may  soon  directly  and  fully  ex- 
ercise his  peaceful  mission  in  your  midvt. 

From  head-quarters  in  Borgo  Panigale,  May  17, 1849. 

GOBZKOWSKI, 

Koyal  Imperial  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


-    ''  [From  the  oflScial  paper,  Oaccetta  di  Bologna,  May  26, 1849.] 

'     ■    f.    ■  "'    .    .   Pontifical  Goykrmment. 

In  the  name  of  his  Holiness,  Pope  Pius  IX., 
To  the  people  of  the  Legations  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Forli,  and  Ravenna. 

Mict. 

To  the  end  that  in  the  four  provinces  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Forli,  and  Ba- 
venna,  now  restored  to  the  dominion  of  the  Holy  See,  the  public  adminis- 
tration be  no  longer  retarded,  we  announce  and  provisionally  ordain  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  The  government  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  is  restored,  and  all  acts  shall 
issue  in  his  name.  The  Pontifical  Commissary,  invested  with  extraordinary 
powers,  is  assisted  by  four  Counsellors,  one  chosen  for  eacli  province. 

2.  Each  province  shall  have  a  Delegate  with  his  Board  of  Counsellors. 

8.  The  several  police  establishments  are  confirmed  in  each  province  with 
the  powers  assigned  by  the  Pontifical  laws,  the  same  to  be  in  ordinary  ser- 
vice under  the  orders  of  the  Civil  Governor  and  local  military  authority,  and 
in  other  respects  dependant  on  the  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  and  on 
Monsignore  the  Commissary  resident  at  Bologna. 

4.  (Bestores  the  mail  communication.)  '' 

5.  (Bestores  censorship  of  the  press.) 

6.  (Restores  ofBoera  in  office  on  the  IBth  November,  1848.) 


APPENDIX. 


669 


7.  (Annnls  any  alienation  of  eooleaiastioal  property.)  "it .  >         ^    >,  , 

8.  (Maintains  mnnioipal  bodien  as  tliey  are.) 

0.  Jadgea  and  tribunuld  »hall  resume  the  ezeroise  of  their  funotiont*,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  and  regulations  in  being  on  the  16th  of  November, 
1848,  and  their  decisions  shall  be  executed* in  the  name  of  his  Holiness  Pope 
Pius  IX. 

10.  Canines  pending  can  be  resumed  only  before  competent  judges  and 
tribunals  in  the  state  and  position  in  which  they  are,  by  the  simple  act  of  an 
attorney,  or  parties  where  there  is  no  attorney. 

G.  Bkdimi. 
Bologna,  May  26, 1849. 


[From  the  official  paper,  Ouietta  dl  Bologna,  No.  188,  Jnne  8, 1849.] 
' '  Notification. 

For  the  purpose  of  making  known  to  everybody  what  crimes,  transgres- 
sions, and  derelictions  of  duty  are  judged  by  the  military  authorities  and  the 
laws  of  war ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  purpose  of  checking  the  bold- 
ness and  malice  of  some  who  seek  to  elude  tiie  regulations  having  for  their 
aim  the  safety  of  the  state,  of  tlje  army,  of  person,  and  of  property,  I  find  it 
necessary  to  declare  as  follows : 

All  crimes,  transgressions,  and  derelictions  of  duty  taking  place  in  the 
Four  Legations  of  Bologna,  Ferrara,  Ravenna,  and  Forli,  are  judged  by  the 
military  authorities,  or  by  the  ordinary  civil  authorities.  The  military  au- 
thorities judge  either  by  Court-Martial  {giudizio  atatario),  or  by  Council  of 
War  (eoruilio  di  guerra).  The  Court-Martial  (2o  atatario)  knows  no  punish- 
ment but  that  of  death. 

A. — By  the  Court-Martial  (atatario)  are  judged  the  following  offences :  ' 

1.  High-Treason ;  and  hence  every  act  directed  to  change  forcibly  the  sys- 
tem of  Government,  or  to  draw  upon  it  or  to  increase  any  danger  from  out- 
side the  state. 

2.  The  keeping,  hiding,  and  tr  r«vnitting  of  arms  and  munitions.  Con- 
sequently the  public  is  specially  ib'-ewarned  that  capital  sentence  will  be 
pronounced  upon  any  individual,  witiiout  distinction  of  rank  or  of  previous 
irreproachable  conduct,  if  arms  or  warlike  munitions  be  found  upon  his 
person,  or  in  his  dwelling,  or  in  any  place  where  it  can  be  proven  that  they 
were  put  by  his  act. 

8.  Participation  in  insurrectionary  movements  or  sedition,  with  arms  or 
without. 

4.  Illegal  enrolling,  as  also  every  attempt  to  induce  to  desertion  individuals 
bound  to  the  military  service. 

5.  Actual  or  violent  resistance  against  sentinels,  platoons,  and  in  general 
against  Austrian  or  Pontifical  soldiers,  among  whom  are  comprised  the  uni- 
formed constabulary  (i  carahinieri).  Notice  is  given  that  sentinels  and 
platoons  have  the  right  to  fire  upon  those  who  should  molest  them. 

6.  Bobbery  and  plunder  by  violence,  whether  with  the  use  of  arms  or 
without,  and  whether  it  be  the  work  of  one  or  more  persons. 


570 


APPENDIX 


I  ( 


B.— By  ft  Coanoil  of  War  ftre  Jadged  the  following  ofTenoM : 

7.  The  npreading  of  revolutionary  doonments. 

8.  Every  outrage  towards  a  military  pemou  not  embraced  under  No.  6  of 
this  article. 

tt.  Tlie  bearing  of  revolutionary  or  party  badgea  not  Austrian  or  Pontifical. 

10.  The  flinging  of  revolutionary  songn. 

11.  All  kinds  of  publlo  political  demonstrations  in  the  streets,  o^  in  other 
public  places. 

12.  Any  disobedience  to  the  orders  and  intimations  of  military  authorities, 
sentinels,  platoons,  &c. 

18.  Street  gatherings  and  other  assemblages  of  a  seditious  character. 
U.  Attending  political  meetings,  whatever  their  name,  unless  embraced 
under  the  regulations  set  forth  under  the  letter  A. 

15.  Omitting  to  close  Coifee-bouses,  Eating-houses,  Taverns,  and  other 
places  of  resort  at  the  established  hour. 

16.  Any  transgression  against  the  precautionary  censorship  of  the  Press. 

17.  Harboring  strange  persons  without  informing  the  authorities. 

18.  Destroying  wantonly  or  tearing  down  Pontifical  Arms  or  Ensigns. 
All  such  offences  will  be  punished,  according  to  the  importance  of  the 

case,  by  imprisonment  from  one  month  to  one  or  more  years,  or  again  by  a 
fine  for  the  benefit  of  some  charitable  institution. 

All  other  crimes,  transgressions,  or  omissions,  not  embraced  under  the  ar- 
ticles headed  by  the  letters  A  and  B,  are  judged  according  to  the  existing 
Pontifical  laws  by  the  proper  civil  authorities. 

From  head-quarters  in  the  Villa  Spada,  June  6, 1849. 

/  GURZKOWSKI, 

Imperial  Boyal  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


[From  the  offloisl  paper,  Gazsetta  di  Bologna,  No.  SOT,  September  6, 1849.] 

Notification. 

In  reference  to  Article  6  of  the  proclamation  5th  of  last  June,  which  places 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  court-martial  (^mdmo  atatario  mUUare)  all  of- 
fences of  robbery  and  plunder  by  violence,  and  taking  into  consideration  the 
invasions  and  depredations  which  have  been  going  on  for  some  time  past  in 
the  country,  to  the  serious  loss  and  terror  of  peaceable  inhabitants  through 
the  auts  of  lawless  men  who  prowl  about  with  arms,  and  who  up  to  the  pres- 
ent have  managed  to  escape  the  vigilance  of  the  armed  police,  the  public  are 
informed  as  follows : 

1.  In  addition  to  the  respectable  reinforcements  sent  to  the  corps  of  armed 
policemen  (carabinieri),  who  justly  claim  the  merit  of  several  important  ar- 
rests recently  made,  strong  movable  columns  of  the  Imperial  Boyal  troops 
will  traverse  the  neighborhoods  most  infested  by  Brigands,  so  as  to  discover 
their  haunts,  to  arrest  tliem,  and  shoot  immediately  all  of  them, 

(a.)  who  should  be  taken  in  the  flagrant  act  of  an  aggression  or  invasion; 

(6.)  who  should  ofifer  resistance  to  the  armed  force ; 


APPKNDIX. 


671 


(0.)  who,  6ven  wUhout  opponition,  should  be  fband  holding  imlAwfttlly 
flreartnB  or  other  deadly  weapons,  and  fgniUy  of  former  crimes ; 

{d.)  who  should  be  Hccomplicea  of  the  crimes  of  these  bandltn  by  their 
own  actH,  whether  by  offering  to  give  them  shelter,  or  by  advising  tiiem  of 
the  danger  near  at  hand,  or  by  giving  in  any  other  way,  of  their  own  accord, 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  same. 

2.  It  is  not  probablt)  that  such  evil-doers  can  hold  out  long,  where  they  do 
not  meet  with  active,  or  at  least  passive,  aid  on  the  part  of  their  respective 
towns  and  villages,  which  are  obliged  to  keep  watch  over  the  country,  es- 
pecially at  night,  and  to  hinder  idlers  and  vagabonds  fVom  roving  at  large ; 
so  therefore  it  is  enacted  that  every  township  (commutu)  legally  proven  to 
have  tolerated,  sheltered,  or  supported  such  evil-doers,  to  have  advised 
them  that  the  armed  force  was  near  at  hand  or  already  on  the  spot,  to  have 
given  in  any  way  direct  or  indirect  aid  and  comfort  to  the  same,  shall  be 
mulcted  in  a  sum  to  be  settled  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
One  half  of  this  sum  shall  go  to  reimburue  the  injured  parties,  and  the  other 
half  to  the  acousertt,  if  there  should  be  any,  their  name  being  kept  secret. 

8.  Any  person  giving  up  to  the  military  force,  or  to  the  police,  a  brigand 
under  sentence  of  arrest,  and  any  person  giving  information  leading  to  the 
discovery  and  arrest  of  evil-doers  held  guilty  of  crimes  against  the  public 
safety,  and  found  to  be  such  by  the  court-martial  {giudizio  ttatario),  or  by 
the  council  of  war,  shall  receive  a  reward  of  tVom  $20  to  (100,  according  to 
the  importance  of  the  case,  and  the  denouncer  shall  be  kept  secret. 

4.  Public  officers  convicted  of  having  neglected  their  duty  in  invigilating 
and  effecting  the  arrests  of  such  evil-doers,  shall  be  deprived  of  their  places 
forthwith,  and  take  their  chance  before  the  criminal  courts,  in  case  they 
should  have  acted  furthermore  with  wilful  malice.  Those  who  draw  no 
salary  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  proportioned  to  their  guilt. 
From  the  Imperial  Royal  Governor,  Civil  and  Military, 

Count  Stba  soldo, 
Imperial  Boyal  Lieutenant-Marshal. 


Extract  from  the  official  gazette,  giving  the  Sentences  pronounced  by  the 
Atutrian  Military  Authority  on  the  Fifty  Patriots^  aaid  to  have  been 
murdered  by  Monaignor  Bedini, 

1.  BoBTOLorn  Antonio.  • 

[Oazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  12a,  May  24, 1849.] 

To  the  Chief  of  Police,  Bologna. 

Having  been  arrested  by  the  military  forces,  the  celebrated  robber  and 
murderer,  Antonio  Bortolotti,  was  brought  to-day  before  the  court-martial 
{giudirh  siatario  mHitare),  condemned  to  death,  and  shot.  While  this  exe- 
cution is  officially  communicated  to  the  Chief  of  Police  for  the  information 
of  the  civil  authorities,  he  is  instructed  to  make  it  public  through  the  Press. 

Head-quarters  at  Villa  Spada,  May  28, 1849. 

>  GOBZKOWBXI, 

Royal  Imperial  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


i  I 


572 


APPENDIX. 


1  I 


\     2.  M ABUNx  CosTANTDro. — 8.  Pbati  Luiol— 4.  Lahsomi  Oioyamnl 

[Ouietta  di  Bolofnt,  No.  184,  Jan«  8, 1849.] 
The  following  notice  ban  been  publisbed  to-day  :  ' 

Hia  Exoellenoy  tbe  Royal  Imperial  Governor  Civil  and  Military,  General  of 
Cavnlry,  by  means  of  a  government  dispatch,  No.  874,  dated  this  day,  hua 
ordered  the  Chief  of  Police  to  publish  as  follows : 

Tostantino  Mariani,  surnamed  Somarone,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged 
88,  unmarried,  peasant,  born  in  the  parish  of  Carpineta  di  Cesena,  residing 
in  the  parish  of  San  Carlo. 

Loigi  Prati,  surnamed  Scoppone,  of  the  township  of  Bertinoro,  aged  24, 
unmarried,  peasant.  Both  of  whom  have  been  several  times  puniahed  for 
robbery  and  burglary,  and  recently  indicted  for  similar  crimes,  and  particu- 
larly for  a  manslaughter  committed  on  the  person  of  their  comrade  Piotro 
Bettani. 

Lanzoni  Giovanni,  son  of  Angelo  deceased,  native  of  Stiatioo,  aged  48, 
public  executioner  of  this  city,  also  punished  several  times  for  larceny. 

All  three,  held  guilty  for  good  reasons  of  highway  robbery,  were  arrested 
arms  in  hand,  and  therefore  brought  before  the  court-martial  (giudikio  atata- 
rio)  on  the  7th  inst.,  and  sentenced  to  be  shot ;  they  were  accordingly  ex- 
ecuted the  same  day. 

Bologna,  June  7, 1849. 
F.  Boberti,  Chief  of  Police  of  the  Province. 


■.I 


S.  Sangiorgi  Natale. — 6.  OERMAm  Raffaile. 
/  [OouetU  di  Bologna,  No.  148,  Jane  26, 1849.] 

notification. 

Germani  Baffaele,  native  of  Bologna,  aged  28,  married,  no  children,  rope- 
maker  by  trade,  was  caught  on  tbe  28d  inst.,  at  seven  o'clock,  P.  M.,  hiding 
at  the  corner  of  a  street  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand,  which  he  aimed  without 
effect  at  an  Austrian  soldier  who  was  passing  by  the  spot.  Germani  was 
brought  before  the  court-martial  (giudimo  atatario)  on  the  24th  inst.,  and 
sentenced  to  be  shot. 

Natale  Sangiorgi,  surnamed  Risino,  native  of  Solarolo,  aged  26,  laborer, 
was  arrested  on  the  21st  inst.,  at  Castel  Bolognese,  with  a  blunderbuss  in 
his  hand  and  a  dagger,  brought  this  day  before  the  court-martial  and  sen- 
tenced to  be  shot. 

The  sentences  were  executed  on  the  24th  inst.,  at  seven  o'clock,  the  bad 
qualities  of  both  the  condemned  standing  against  them,  for  they  had  both 
been  indicted  before  for  robbery  and  manslaughter.  If  the  circumstances 
of  the  present  time  compelled  me  to  have  the  above  sentences  executed,  I 
am  still  comforted  by  the  thought  that  this  salutary  warning  fell  upon  in- 
dividuals already  judged  to  be  evil  and  dangerous  to  society.  I  trust  that  I 
shall  not  be  called  upon  for  the  future  to  resort  to  such  severe  measures, 
and  to  contribute  my  share  in  preventing  the  occasion,  I  hereby  grant  for 
the  last  time  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Four  Legations  the  peremptory  term 


APPENDIX. 


678 


of  thre«  days,  ooantlng  ft-ora  the  publioation  of  the  preMot  dooament,  da- 
ring which  they  may  give  up  all  arms  and  manitiona  of  war,  forewarning  all 
that  after  auoh  term  I  will  execute  the  law  to  its  fulleat  rigor  against  every 
offender,  no  matter  who  he  may  be. 

QORZKOWSU, 

Boyal  Imperial  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  General  of  Cavalry. 

7.  Rioci  LuioL  ., 

[0«uettadiBo1ogna,No.  178,  JoIySS,  1849.]  ' 

Luigi  Biooi  (and  not  Eioel),  surnamed  Pettitoni,  son  of  Baptist  deceased, 
and  of  Maria  Passadura,  native  of  Santa  Agata  in  the  territory  of  Faenza, 
aged  21,  already  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  for  robbery,  made 
his  escape  while  he  was  being  conveyed  to  the  workhouse.  In  the  month 
of  June  last  he  was  caught  with  a  gun  and  pistol  in  his  hand :  he  jumped  out 
of  a  window  to  run  away,  and  aimed  his  pistol  at  the  force  by  which  he  was 
followed.  Bicci  was  brought  before  the  oourt-martial  ((fiudisio  atatario)  on 
the  24th  inst.,  he  was  condemned  to  be  shot,  and  the  sentence  was  executed 
the  same  day  at  six  o'clock,  P.  M. 


8.   BaSSI  UqO. — 9.    LlYBAOBI   OlOVANNL 

[Gstzetta  dl  Bologna,  Na  180,  Augost  8, 1848.]  ^ 

The  Imperial  Boyal  Austrian  troops,  by  their  untiring  activity,  have  final- 
ly succeeded  in  breaking  up  altogether  the  gangs  of  the  notorious  Garibaldi, 
which  under  the  color  of  patriotism  caused  this  neighborhood  to  swarm 
with  adventurers,  robbers,  and  assassins.  Surrounded  little  by  little  on  ev- 
ery  side  by  the  Imperial  Boyal  troops,  especially  those  belonging  to  the  bri- 
gade of  the  youthful  and  brave  Major-general  Archduke  Ernest,  these  gangs 
finally  established  thetiiselvea  on  a  firm  footing  in  the  territory  of  San  Marino. 

However,  as  Garibaldi  saw  that  the  Imperial  Boyal  Commanders  would 
not  be  disposed  in  any  way  to  recognize  in  him  an  adversary  worthy  of  be- 
ing allowed  to  capitulate,  but  that  they  would  constantly  insist  upon  his 
surrendering  at  discretion,  he  found  it  the  bettor  plan,  for  the  safety  of  his 
own  person  and  family,  to  get  off  under  cover  of  night,  together  with  about 
a  hundred  of  his  most  trusty  followers,  going  by  Sogliano  and  Savignano, 
towards  the  seaboard. 

With  success  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  he  succeeded,  in  fact,  in  reaching 
the  port  of  Cesenatico,  and  after  having  compelled  the  terrified  inhabitants 
to  furnish  him  with  whatever  could  be  laid  hold  of,  not  caring  at  all  about 
the  fate  of  his  followers,  he  embarked,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  2d  instant,  on  some  fishing  barks  which  he  found  in  the  place. 

Notwithstanding  his  fiight,  there  is  hope  left  that  he  may  f^l  in  with  the 
Imperial  Boyal  forces  on  the  watch  towards  Bimini,  as,  with  the  small  craft 
on  which  he  has  trusted  himself,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  put  to  sea. 

His  companions,  left  to  themselves,  and  being  without  hope  of  escape, 
surrendered,  to  the  number  of  about  nine  hundred,  to  the  Imperial  Boyal 
Austrian  troops,  sent  to  Bimini  by  his  Exoellenoy,  General  of  Cavalry,  Qorz- 


674 


APPENDIX. 


kowski,  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  who,  for  the  purpose  of  insuring 
prompt  and  active  measure*,  was  on  the  spot  in  penon.—{Oaze«ttat  dkc,  M. 
181,  Augtut  ^th.) 

BoLoaNA,  August  4tli. 

As  we  foresaw  yesterday,  it  would  have  been  impracticable  for  Garibaldi, 
with  a  few  followers  and  his  Ashing  smacks,' to  get  out  to  sea  without  op- 
position from  the  Imperial  Royal  flotilla  beating  the  waters  of  the  Adriatic. 

The  facL  was,  that  ho  fell  in  with  it,  and  after  losing  some  of  his  boats, 
he  was  driven  in  shore  in  the  neighborhood  of  Magnavacca,  where  lie 
made  bold  to  land ;  but  the  energetic  and  far-seeing  General  of  Cavalry, 
Qorzkowski,  Civil  and  Military  Governor,  presupposing  that  such  would  be 
the  case,  had  already  ordered  Hve  companies  of  Austrian  troops,  with  two 
field-pieces  and  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  to.  scour  that  coast. 

These  troops  captured  two  of  Garibaldi's  followers  yesterday,  and  gave 
chase  to  the  others  who  were  straggling  in  the  neighboring  woods,  and 
making  every  effort  to  escape.  So  then,  if  the  bold  adventurer  does  not 
succeed  in  getting  away  unknown  and  alone,  there  is  every  prospect  of  his 
being  speedily  oaught.—(,Oa»zettaf  do.,  No.  184,  Augxut  9ith.) 


The  notorious  Ugo  Bassi,  of  Bologna,  and  Giovanni  Livraghi  (not  Lie- 
raghi),  of  Milan,  an  Austrian  deserter,  both  officers  of  the  Garibaldi  gang, 
were  taken  with  arms  in  hand  in  the  Pontifical  territory ;  were  therefore 
found  guilty,  and  executed  this  Sth  day  of  August,  1849,  in  Bologna. 

Notification. 

The  corps  of  Garibaldi  have  been  nearly  all  taken  prisoners,  either  on 
land  by  the  Imperial  Royal  troops  pressing  upon  their  tracks,  or  at  sea  by 
the  Austrian  forces  composing  the  flotilla  of  the  Adriatic.  Some,  however, 
of  this  band  of  marauders  have  succeeded  in  getting  at  large,  either  before 
the  embarkation  at  Ccsenatioo,  when  they  were  chased  by  the  troops  on 
land,  or  after  the  debarkation  at  Magnavacca,  when  they  were  driven  back 
by  the  maritime  force.  Among  these  is  Garibaldi  himself,  who  bears  with 
him -his  wife,  in  an  advanced  state  of  pregnancy. 

All  good  citizens,  especially  in  the  country,  are  kept  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment by  these  dangerous  individuals  being  hidden  in  their  neighborhood. 
Every  one  is  reminded  that  it  is  forbidden  to  give  aid  or  comfort,  shelter 
or  countenance,  in  any  way,  to  such  evil-doers ;  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
good  citizen  to  drive  them  from  him,  and  help  all  he  can  to  discover  them, 
and  to  give  them  up  to  juHtioo.  And  all  are  forewarned  that  any  person  who 
shall  knowingly  assist,  shelter,  or  countenance  the  fugitive  Garibaldi,  or  any 
individual  of  the  gang  by  liini  led  and  commanded,  shall  be  subject  to  the 
judgment  of  the  court-martial  (f/iudkio  statarw  militare). 

From  head-quarters  in  Vil  a  Spada  (near  Bologna),  August  Sth,  1849. 

GORZKOWSKI, 

Imperial  Royal  Governor,  Civil  and  Military,  General  of  Cavalry. 


!1 


APPENDIX. 


676 


10.  CoNTOu  Samtx. 
[Oaztetta,  Asc,  No.  205,  September  8d.] 

Sante  Contoli,  nicknamed  Faggiolino,  sou  of  Vincenzo  and  Annunziata,  aged 
nineteen,  unmarried,  carpenter  by  trade,  born  and  residing  at  Imola,  arrested 
for  bearing  arms.  Hia  case  having  been  introduced  and  discussed  on  yes- 
terday, September  1st,  the  court-martial  on  the  same  day  passed  sentence 
that,  considering  the  excessively  bad  antecedents  of  Contoli,  who  was  for- 
merly condemned  to  one  year  of  hard  labor  on  account  of  a  wound  he  in- 
flicted, who  belongs  to  the  notorious  gang  commonly  called  the  "  Sqaadrazza 
of  Imola,"  and  who  was  held,  for  serious  reasons,  to  be  the  author  of  five 
oaces  of  manslaughter,  that  he  should  be  condemned  to  death,  and  shot. 
The  sentence  was  executed  on  the  same  day. 

Bologna,  September  2d,  1819. 


11.  PiNoooHi  Giovanni. — 12.  Sorosta  Nicola. — 13.  Piazzi  Saverio. — 
14.  OoaiNi  Giuseppe. — 15.  Gorini  Taddeo. — 16.  Sorosta  0. 

(The  last  mentioned  is  not  to  be  found  among  the  condemned  of  this 
period.) 

[Oazzetta,  Ac,  No.  217,  September  18th,  1849.] 

In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  notifications  of  May  17th  and  of  the 
6th  of  June  last,  and  5th  of  September,  instant,  the  following  individuals 
were  condemned  to  death  by  court-martial  {militara  statario),  and  shot : 

1.  Giovanni  Pinoccbi,  native  of  the  plain  of  S>vn  Lazaro  d'Ancona,  aged 
28,  porter  by  trade,  convicted  of  having  taken  from  an  Imperial  soldier  his 
bayonet,  and  with  it  stabbed  another  soldier  in  the  thigh. 

2.  Nicola  Sorosta,  of  Castelfidardo,  aged  50,  peasant,  on  previous  occa- 
sions tried  and  punished  for  robberies  and  violence ;  an  individual  of  ex- 
cessively bad  fame.  On  account  of  a  gun  found  in  his  house  loaded  with 
buckshot  and  ready  capped. 

8.  Saverio  Plazzi,  of  Cotignola,  aged  40,  laborer,  already  condemned  as  an 
accomplice  in  committing  a  manslaughter ;  an  individual  of  the  worst  repu- 
tation ;  for  having  been  found  in  possession  of  a  loaded  gun. 

4.  Giuseppe  Gorini ;  and, 

5.  Taddeo  Gorini,  both  of  Budrio,  laborers,  and  guilty  of  previous  crimes; 
having  been  caught  possessing  arms. 


or  any 
to  the 

:9. 

avalry. 


17.  BALDim  Giuseppe. 

[Gazzetta,  &&,  No.  227,  September  29th.] 

On  September  21st  were  discovered  by  the  public  force  during  the  night, 
near  Alfonsine,  five  assassins,  while  attempting  to  enter,  with  arms  in  hand, 
the  house  of  the  farmer  Corini.  One  was  severely  wounded ;  another,  by 
name  Giuseppe  Baldini,  called  Plazzini,  a  most  wicked  subject,  son  of  Fran- 


676 


APPENDIX. 


oesoo,  deceased,  was  arrested.     Being  brought  before  the  court-martial 
(cotmlio  statario),  this  man  was  condemned  to  be  shot.    The  sentence  was 
executed  in  Lugo,  on  the  26th  instant. 
Bologna,  September  28th,  1849. 

18.  MiOANi  Sante.  ''' 

[Oazzetta,  See.,  No.  288,  October  8th.] 

Migani  Sante,  surnamed  Tamburo,  son  of  Domenico  Antonio,  living,  aged 
27,  married,  has  children,  peasant,  of  Passano,  under  the  gr^-,  emortship  of 
Coriano,  condemned  to  imprisonment  for  life  for  burg'c^ry  and  robbery,  es- 
caped firom  the  fortress  of  Forli.  Having  been  bu>  dcquently  arrested,  and 
found  bearing  a  long,  sharp  dagger,  he  was  brought  before  the  court-martial 
(gvudiaio  atatario),  and  there,  on  Saturday,  October  6th,  Sante  Migani  was 
condemned  by  a  unanimous  vote  to  be  shot.  The  sentence  was  executed 
the  same  day,  in  Bologna. 


19.  Gatti  Carlo. — 20.  Taoooni  Antonio. — 21.  Moeetti  Vincbnzo. — 22. 

Rizzi  LUIGT. 
[Gazzetta,  &c..  No.  258,  October  Slst] 
Ikpbbial  Royal  Govbrnment,  Civil  and  Militart. 

Notice. 

The  strict  survei]l.^T''a  exercised  over  the  evil-doers  and  vagabonda  who 
swarm  in  the  territory  of  the  Legation  of  Bologna,  and  the  activity  with 
which  they  are  treated  according  to  the  terms  of  martial  law  in  cases  of  at- 
tempts and  crimes  against  the  safety  of  persons  and  of  property,  have  not 
sufficed,  up  to  the  present  time,  to  hinder  entirely  such  misdeeds,  for  they 
are  repeated  from  time  to  time  in  this  neighborhood,  and  even  in  the  city 
of  Bologna.  Yesterday,  however,  an  unheard-of  burglary  and  robbery  was 
committed  with  unusual  boldness,  in  broad  daylight,  in  one  of  the  principal 
thoroughfares  of  this  city,  at  San  Felice,  in  the  house  of  Marquis  Descarani. 
Several  armed  individuals  effected  an  entrance  into  the  rooms  of  the  Secre- 
tariate, situated  on  the  ground-floor.  They  used  outrageous  violence  on 
the  only  clerk  who  was  there  at  the  time,  and,  muffling  him  up  in  a  cloak, 
they  took  possession  of  all  the  money  and  valuable  effects  they  could  lay 
their  hands  on. 

By  a  fortunate  accident,  the  thieves  having  fled  with  their  booty,  were 
discovered  almost  immediately,  in  the  shop  of  the  shoemaker  Luigi  Bizzi, 
at  the  bridge  of  Sant'Arcangelo,  one  of  the  accomplices,  where  the  police 
force  succeeded,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Imperial  Royal  soldiery,  in  cap- 
turing the  four  individuals  hereinafter  mentioned,  and  nearly  all  the  stolen 
property. 

Carlo  Qatti,  son  of  Domenico,  deceased,  aged  21,  ropemaker  by  trade,  un- 
married, resident  in  Bologna. 


// 


APPENDIX. 


677 


Antonio  Tacconi,  son  of  Odoardo,  deceased,  aged  20,  blacksmith,  unmar' 
riod,  from  Lavino  di  Mezzo. 

Vincenzo  Moretti,  son  of  Carlo,  deceased,  surnamed  II  guerciOj  aged  25, 
Bhoemaker,  unmarried,  residing  in  Bologna. 

Luigi  Rizzi,  son  of  Domenico,  living,  aged  28,  shoemaker,  unmarried,  also 
of  Bologna. 

The  proofs  of  the  guilt  of  these  four  evil-doers  of  notorious  bad  charac- 
ter, already  well  known  for  previous  outrages,  were  so  strong,  that,  in  spite 
of  their  obstinate  denial,  it  was  impossible  to  hesitate  on  the  application  to 
their  new  crime  of  the  military  law  (leffge  stataria)  to  its  full  extent. 

In  accordance,  therefore,  with  the  tenor  of  the  notifications  of  the  Impe- 
rial Royal  government,  civil  and  military,  dated  June  5th  and  September 
6th  of  the  present  year,  they  were  all  four  condemned  to  death  and  shot 
forthwith,  near  the  guardhouse  of  Sant'Agnese,  in  the  midst  of  a  large  con- 
course of  the  population,  who,  being  terrified  by  the  outrages  and  robberies 
that  are  repeated  even  in  the  middle  of  the  city,  and  by  the  difficulty  of 
finding  out  their  authors,  called  for  a  prompt  infliction  of  well-deserved 
punishpient  in  this  case,  in  which  Divine  Providence  brought  the  guilty  so 
epeedily  into  the  hands  of  justice,  as  a  solemn  and  salutary  warning  to 
other  evil-doers. 

Bologna,  October  80th,  1840. 


28.  LoBExziM  FiLEPPO. — 24,  Tav^ooni  Antonio. — 25.  Sellkri  Gabtano. 
[Gazzetta,  &c.,  No.  300,  December  29th.] 

1.  Lorenzini  Filippo,  son  of  Angelo,  living,  aged  19,  bom  in  Baricella ; 

2.  Tacconi  Antonio,  son  of  Domenico,  living,  aged  26,  born  in  Minerbio ; 
8.  Selleri  Gaetano,  son  of  Luigi,  deceased,  aged  26,  born  in  Aitedo,  all 

three  unmarried,  country  laborers,  residing  at  Ca  de'  Fabbi,  governorship 
of  Budrio,  on  the  evening  of  the  21st  instant  entered,  arms  in  hand,  the 
country  residence  and  actual  dwelling-place  of  Signer  Antonio  Codini,  situ- 
ated in  San  Giorgio  di  Piano,  with  the  intention  of  robbing  him  by  violence 
of  his  money. 

They  knocked  at  the  front  door  and  passed  themselves  off  for  policemen, 
by  the  word  "  PZatoon,"  and  the  door  was  opened.  Lorenzini  entered  first, 
and  collaring  the  rustic  who  had  opened  the  door,  threatened  to  kill  him, 
and  commanded  him  to  point  out  to  them  the  room  of  his  m.\ster.  Tac- 
coni and  Selleri  entered  almost  at  the  same  moment,  and  went  up  stairs 
with  the  servant  to  the  second  story,  and  to  the  rooms  where  Signor  Codini 
was,  with  his  family.  The  public  force  of  the  Pontifical  Light  Infantry,  of 
the  detachment  of  San  Giorgio,  being  previously  apprised  in  secret  of  this 
business,  had  been  lying  in  wait  in  the  place  since  the  evening  before,  and 
arrested  in,  flagrante  Lorenzini  alone,  while  the  other  two,  Tacconi  and 
Selleri,  took  to  their  heels,  going  out  the  same  way  they  had  entered,  the 
door  having  been  left  open.  During  the  night,  however,  they  too  were  ar- 
rested. 

The  trial  having  come  on,  one  made  a  full  confession  of  his  guilt ;  the 

25 


C78 


APPENDIX. 


other  two,  although  denying  every  thing,  were  convicted  by  the  confession 
of  their  accomplice  and  the  deposition  of  witnesses.  Yesterday  their  case 
was  laid  before  the  court-martial  (giudizio  atatario),  and  after  discussion, 
they  were  all  three  found  guilty  of  the  invasion  as  above  described,  and 
condemned  to  be  shot. 

The  sentence  was  executed  yesterday  at  8  o^clook  p.  ic.,  at  Bologna,  in  the 
meadow  of  Sant'  Antonio. 

26.  OuERRA  Antonio. — 21.  Oaeavita  Bonafede. — 28.  Grazia  G. 

(The  last  mentioned  is  not  to  be  found  among  the  condemned  of  this 
period.) 

[Oazzetta  di  Bologna,  No.  26,  January  Slst] 

Boloona,  January  Slst,  1850. 

Towards  evening  on  the  14th  day  of  August,  1849,  a  gang  of  seven  or 
eight  armed  marauders  entered  the  dwelling  of  the  brothers  Amadei,  landed 
proprietors  of  San  Savino,  parish  of  Fusignano,  robbing  them,  with  vio- 
lence and  cruelty,  of  the  best  that  could  be  found,  to  the  value  of  $197.42. 

The  following  persons  were  legally  convicted  of  the  crime  : 

1.  Guerra  Antonio,  surnamed  Scaranino,  eon  of  Luigi,  deceased,  aged  25, 
nnmarried,  born  at  Fusignano,  residing  near  Lugo  ; 

2.  Caravita  Bonafede,  aged  23,  unmarried  ; 
8.  Caravita  Francesco,  aged  27,  married ; 

4.  Caravita  Costanti,  aged  25,  unmarried:  sons  of  Bartolommeo, deceased, 
country  laborers  of  Fusignano ;  and  yesterday,  by  sentence  of  the  court- 
martial  (giudisio  statario),  the  two  first  were  condemned  to  be  shot,  which 
was  done  the  same  day ;  the  other  two  were  condemned  to  fifteen  years'  im- 
prisonment each. 

29.  MoNTANARi  Gaetano. — 30.  Bertoni  Domenico. — 31.  Cagnazzi  Aoos- 

UNO. — 82.    MONTANARI   CoSTANTE. — 33.    GULMANBLLI   CaRLO. 

[Oazzetta,  Ace.,  No.  74,  April  2d,  1850.] 

Bologna,  April  Ist,  1860. 
On  the  evening  of  the  20th  of  last  March,  an  entrance  was  effected  into 
the  house  of  Signor  Mauro  Vassura,  proprietor,  by  six  armed  marauders, 
and  a  robbery  committed  of  about  $1000.    The  following  persons  were  ar- 
rested as  authors  of  the  crime  : 

1.  Bianchi  Gaetano,  born  at  Ferrara,  porter,  married,  with  children,  aged 
88,  residing  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

2.  Montanari  Costante,  surnamed  Guaccio,  aged  81,  laborer,  born  at  San 
Michele,  married,  with  children,  residing  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

8.  Montanari  Gaetano,  surnamed  Baiv^v^jo,  laborer,  born  at  Piangipane, 
aged  80,  married,  with  children,  domioil  in  Borgo  Adriano. 

4.  Gulmanelli  Carlo,  aged  27,  born  at  Russi,  unmarried,  laborer,  with  no 
fixed  domicil. 

5.  Bertoni  Domenico,  surnamed  Speutacchione,  porter,  married,  with  chQ- 
dren,  aged  25,  of  Borgo  Adriano 


1. 


I  I 

// 


APPENDIX. 


579 


6.  Cagnazzi  .-..ijoBtino,  surnamed  II  figlio  delta  Cavretta,  aged  27,  unmar* 
lied,  laborer,  of  Borgo  Adriano :  all  of  bad  fame  for  grievouH  larcenies, 
having  been  found  guilty  by  proofs,  their  own  confession,  the  finding  of  a 
good  part  of  the  stolen  property,  and  of  their  weapons.  On  the  28d  of 
March  they  were  sentenced  by  the  court-martial  (conaUio  statario)  to  be 
shot.  The  sentence  was  executed  on  the  same  day,  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  ic., 
on  the  public  square  of  the  cattle  market,  outside  of  Porta  Adriana,  in  the 
aforementioned  city  of  Bavenna. 

84.  Baruffaldi  Luioi. 
.  [Oazzetta,  &c.,  No.  77,  April  5th.] 

Bologna,  April  6th,  1850. 
Barnflfaldi  Luigi,  surnamed  Scivolino,  son  of  Girolamo,  living,  aged  28, 
married,  no  children,  ropemaker  and  fisherman,  of  Keno  Centese,  was 
sought  after  by  the  police  for  repeated  offences,  especially  in  the  line  of  rob- 
beries committed  by  him  during  the  summer  of  1849,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Centese.  He  grew  hardened,  and  gave  himself  up  to  the  commission  of 
all  sorts  of  outrages,  and  became  the  fear  and  terror  of  that  neighborhood. 
On  the  24th  day  of  last  February,  armed  with  pistol  and  dagger,  he  fell  in 
with  one  Nicola  Franciosi,  of  Reno  itself,  and  stopped  him  on  the  public 
highway ;  he  compelled  him.  to  kneel  down  and  stretch  out  his  arms, 
searched  his  person,  and  finding  only  a  few  coppers,  treated  him  with  con- 
tempt. He  made  him  get  up,  however,  and  went  with  him  to  his  dwelling. 
'  Here  he  gave  serious  ill  treatment  to  him  and  his  family,  and  left,  taking 
with  him  a  gun  and  some  things  to  eat.  He  was  arrested  on  the  night  of 
26th,  27th  of  February  last,  having  a  gun  and  dagger,  and  was  put  in  jail. 
His  process  having  been  drawn  up  and  laid  before  the  court-martial  (gvudizio 
statario\  he  was  this  day,  April  4th,  condemned  to  be  shot.  The  sentenoe 
was  executed  to-day,  on  the  meadow  of  Sant'  Antonio,  in  Bologna. 
Bologna,  April  4th,  1850. 

86.  Zappi  Pasqualk. — 86.  Folli  Davide. — 87.  Lambeeti  Giuseppe. — 88. 
PoooiALi  Antonio. — 89.  Mirei  Innooenzo, — 40.  Casolini  Caelo. — 41. 

CONTAVALLI    GlUSEPPE.— 42.    FoLLI   DOMENICO. 48.    LaMBEBTI  LuIGI.— 

44.  Oazziaei  Antonio.— 46.  Boeohi  Sante. — 46.  Albeetazzi  Giuseppe 
— 47.  Faeolfi  Giuseppe. — 48.  Mita  Francesco. — 49.  Meluzzi  Paolo. 
— 60.  ZoLLi  Battista. 

(Garotti  A.  is  not  found  to  be  among  the  condemned  of  this  period.) 
[Oazzetta,  No.  203,  September  6tli.] 

Bologna,  September  6th,  1850. 

IiiPEEiAii  BoYAL  Government,  Militaby  and  Civil. 

Notification. 

1.  During  the  night  of  April  20th,  six  armed  marauders  forced  open  a 

window  and  burglariously  entered  the  dwelling-house  of  Giovanni  Ser- 

menghi,  surnamed  Barabanino,  situated  in  the  parish  of  Ortodonico.    He 


580 


APPENDIX. 


was  robbed  of  the  best  he  had,  to  the  value  of  $40 ;  he  was  wounded,  and 
his  daughter,  wife  of  Antonio  Gaiani,  was  violated. 

2.  In  the  dusk  of  the  evening  of  July  26tb,  1849,  four  armed  marauders 
entered  the  dwelling-house  of  Andrea  Costa,  farmer,  of  Casola  Canina,  and 
took  away  by  violence  a  bale  of  linen  and  a  trifling  sum  of  money — loss  in 
all  about  $7. 

8.  Five  robbers,  early  in  the  evening  of  16th  last  January,  went  to  Orto- 
donioo,  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Antonio  Qolinelli,  and,  by  threats  of  arson 
and  murder,  they  extorted  from  him  |2.16  in  money. 

4.  Leaving  that  place,  they  went  during  the  same  night  into  the  parish  of 
Poggiolo,  at  the  place  called  Monticino,  and  with  similar  threats  of  arson  and 
murder,  they  extorted  from  the  farmer  of  the  place,  Giacomo  Dal  Pozzo, 
11.08. 

5.  Passing  themselves  off  for  policemen,  nine  vagabonds,  provided  with 
wooden  stakes  and  a  hodging-blade,  went  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Antonio 
Contoli,  of  Gaiano,  and  breaking  down  the  door  at  the  entrance,  they  got 
into  the  house,  stealing  money  and  effects  to  the  value  of  $20.  This  bur- 
glary took  place  during  the  night  of  January  20th. 

6.  On  the  evening  of  January  27th,  about  the  time  of  the  Ave  Maria,  a 
gang  of  ten  vagabonds  burglariously  entered  the  dwelling-house  of  the 
farmer  Agostino  Tinti,  in  the  parish  of  Castel  Guelfo,  having  broken  open 
the  door  with  their  clubs ;  and  the  said  Tinti  was  violently  robbed  of  money 
and  effects  to  the  value  of  $60.47. 

7.  Four  vagabonds,  at  the  hour  of  ten  o'clock  in  the  night  of  February 
9th,  went  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Francesco  Castelli,  of  Zello,  and,  with 
threats  of  arson,  they  extorted  from  him  money  to  the  amount  of  $2. 

8.  On  the  10th  of  last  February,  eight  marauders,  bearing  arms,  and  hav- 
ing their  faces  covered  with  handkerchiefs,  breaking  down  the  door,  en- 
tered burglariously  the  dwelling-house  of  farmer  Antonio  Passini,  of  Linaro, 
and  violently  robbed  him  of  money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of  $238. 

9.  During  the  night  of  17th  February  aforesaid,  seven  marauders,  armed 
with  pistols  and  daggers,  entered  the  farmhouse  of  Lorenzo  Gurdenghi,  of 
Castel  San  Pietro,  having  opened  the  door  by  violence,  and  robbed  him  of 
money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of  $100. 

10.  About  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night  of  the  said  February  2l8t,  three 
evil-doers  went  to  the  dwelling  of  Domenico  Savini,  surnamed  Ziona,  of 
Casola  Canina,  and  extorted  from  him,  by  threats  of  arson  and  murder,  $8. 

11.  On  the  evening  of  said  February  28d,  four  malefactors  extorted,  by 
threats  of  arson,  from  Sante  Mongardi,  surnamed  Sulind^,  of  Casola  Canina, 
the  sum  of  $11.25. 

12.  On  the  night  of  last  March  2d,  seven  marauders,  bearing  arms,  went 
to  the  house  of  Giovanni  Dal  Pozzo,  surnamed  Dei  Longoni,  in  Chiusura. 
They  attempted  in  vain  to  open  the  door  of  the  dwelling,  and  were  thus 
unable  to  effect  an  entrance.  They  fired  off  their  guns,  however,  and,  by 
threats  of  death,  they  extorted  from  Dal  Pozzo  the  sum  of  $10. 

18.  Immediately  afterwards,  going  to  the  house  of  Francesco  Cavina,  like- 
wise of  Chiusura,  by  threats  of  arson,  they  extorted  from  him  the  sum  of 
flO.60. 


ii 


APPENDIX. 


581 


14.  Thirteen  maraudere,  furnished  with  all  aorta  of  weapons,  went,  during 
the  night  of  last  March  10th,  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Signer  Sebastiano 
Fantaguzzi,  of  Riolo.  Assuming  the  name  of  police,  and  disguising  their 
faces,  they  entered  said  dwelling,  and  robbed  Fantaguzzi  of  money  and  ef- 
fects to  the  amount  of  |60. 

15.  Later  during  the  same  night,  they  went  to  the  parsonage-house  of 
Oflsano,  and  robbed  the  parish  priest,  Don  Giorgio  Fantaguzzi,  of  money 
and  effects  to  the  value  of  |50. 

16.  About  midnight  on  last  March  14th,  eleven  marauders,  bearing  arms, 
opened  by  violence  the  door  of  the  parish  church  of  Piedevra,  and  after- 
wards that  of  the  canonical  residence.  Having  their  faces  covered  with 
handkerchiefs,  and  having  assumed  military  badges,  they  entered  and  rob- 
bed the  arch-priest,  Don  Antonio  Zaccarini,  of  $160. 

17.  On  the  night  of  said  March  27th,  six  marauders,  armed  with  guns, 
came  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Stephano  Seravalle,  of  Croce  in  Campo,  and 
attempted,  without  success,  to  open  by  violence  the  front  door  and  effect 
an  entrance.  However,  by  threats  of  arson  and  murder,  they  extorted  from 
Seravalle  aforesaid  $1.20. 

18.  Immediately  afterwards  they  passed  to  the  domicil  of  Stefano  Gam- 
betti,in  San  Prospero,  and  by  threats  of  arson  they  extorted  from  him  $2.40. 

19.  At  the  hour  of  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  last  April  7th,  eleven 
marauders  bearing  arms  broke  down  several  doors  of  the  dwelling-house  of 
Antonio  Longhini,  of  Castel  Guelfo,  burglariously  entered  the  premises  and 
violently  robbed  Longhini  aforesaid  of  money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of 
$82.90. 

20.  Five  vagabonds,  about  midnight  of  last  April  16th,  came  to  the  house 
of  Paolo  Dal  Monte,  of  Mezzolano,  territory  of  Castel  Bolognese,  attempted 
without  success  to  break  open  the  door,  and  by  threats  of  death  extorted 
from  said  Dal  Monte  $80. 

21.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  of  said  April  18th,  seven  marauders  came  to 
the  canonical  residence  of  Pediano ;  they  cut  the  ropes  of  the  bells,  and 
breaking  down  the  doors  they  entered,  having  their  faces  covered  with 
handkerchiefs.  They  stole  money  and  effects  to  the  amount  of  $40  and  took 
their  departure,  after  having  forcibly  violated  the  domestic  of  the  parish 
priest,  Signor  Don  Luigi  Mirri. 

22.  Four  marauders,  armed  with  pistols  and  daggers,  went  on  the  evening 
of  said  April  80th  to  the  dwelling-house  of  Domenico  Bassani,  farmer  of 
Mezzolano,  and  broke  down  the  front  door  and  effected  an  entrance.  Hav- 
ing done  outrageous  violence  to  Bassani  himself,  putting  a  halter  round  his 
neck,  they  robbed  him  of  money  and  effects  to  the  value  of  $80. 

Sentence  was  pronounced  on  the  authors  of  the  foregoing  crimes,  on  the 
5th  inst.,  by  the  council  of  war  {consiglio  di  guerra),  and  the  following  per- 
sons were  found  guilty  and  condemned  to  be  put  to  death  by  being  shot. 

1.  Mondelii  Domenico,  son  of  Lorenzo  deceased,  aged  20,  native  of  San 
Prospero,  residing  in  Ortodonico,  unmarried,  apprentice,  surnamed  Lizziri- 
no,  hitherto  unindicted. 

2.  Zippi  Pasquale,  son  of  Paolo  deceased,  aged  28,  native  of  Sosto,  re< 


582 


APPjffiNDIX. 


siding  in  Ortodonioo,  unmarried,  laborer,  Burnamed  Barooncino,  hitlierto 
unindioted. 

8.  Zolli  Battista,  son  of  Simon  living,  aged  28,  unmarried,  native  of  San 
Spirito,  residing  at  Oroce  in  Campo,  peasant,  alias  Batistazza,  liitherto  uuin- 
dictod. 

4.  Lamberti  Giuseppe,  son  of  Francesco  living,  aged  22,  native  of  Ortodo- 
nico,  resident  of  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Baviolo  Grande, 
hitherto  unindicted. 

5.  Poggiali  Antonio,  son  of  Prospero  Casadio,  native  and  resident  of  Sau 
Spirito,  aged  24,  immarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Poggelli,  hitherto  unin- 
dicted. 

6.  Brusa  Giuseppe,  son  of  Giovanni  living,  aged  25,  native  of  San  Pros- 
pero, resident  of  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  servant-man  and  peasant,  surnamed 
II  Bundito,  previously  indicted  for  wounds  inflicted,  and  condemned  to  jail 
for  five  years. 

7.  Mirri  Inaocenzo,  son  of  Francesco  living,  aged  21,  native  and  resident 
of  San  Spirito,  alias  Moniericco  alias  Prete,  hitherto  unindicted. 

8.  Casoliui  Carlo,  son  of  Giacomo  living,  aged  28,  native  of  Croce  Cpperta, 
residing  in  Ponte  Santo,  unmarried,  working-man,  hitherto  unindicted. 

9.  Contavalli  Giuseppe,  son  of  Simon,  aged  25,  native  of  Cantalupo,  resi- 
dent of  Castel  Nuovo,  unmarried,  peasant,  nicknamed  Ca  lunga,  hitherto 
unindicted. 

10.  Folli  Davide,  son  of  Paolo  living,  aged  24,  native  of  San  Spirito,  resi- 
ding in  Casalecchio,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Gagliazzino,  hitherto 
unindicted. 

11.  Lamberti  Luigi,  son  of  Francesco  living,  aged  21,  native  of  Ortodonioo, 
residing  in  Sau  Spirito,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Baviolo  Piccolo, 
hitherto  unindicted. 

12.  Cazziari  Antonio,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  18,  native  and  resident 
of  Casola  Canina,  unmarried,  shoemaker,  surnamed  Scapuzzo,  hitherto  un- 
indicted. 

18.  Albertazzi  Giuseppe,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  22,  native  and  resi- 
dent of  San  Lorenzo  di  Dozza,  married,  peasant,  surnamed  Faffone  del  Cas- 
tellazzo,  indicted  heretofore  for  holding  arms. 

14.  Borghi  Sante,  son  of  Luigi  deceased,  aged  83,  native  of  Campiano, 
residing  at  Serra,  unmarried,  peasant,  alias  Dal  Luoghetto,  hitherto  unin- 
dicted. 

15.  Farolfi  Giuseppe,  son  of  Domenico  living,  aged  28,  native  and  resident 
of  Croce  Coperta,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  II  Frate,  hitherto  unin- 
dicted. 

16.  Mita  Francisco,  son  of  Girolamo  living,  aged  80,  native  and  resident 
of  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  baker,  surnamed  Poradiso,  hitherto  unindicted. 

17.  Meluzzi  Paolo,  son  of  Giuseppe  deceased,  native  of  Giardino,  residing 
in  San  Spirito,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  Merlone,  hitherto  unindicted. 

18.  Folli  Domenico,  son  of  Simon  living,  native  of  San  Spirito,  resident 
of  Croce  in  Campo,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  11  fratello  di  Battistuzza, 
hitherto  unindicted. 

19.  Luzzi  Lorenzo,  son  of  Luigi  living,  aged  28,  native  of  Dozza,  resident 


i'l 


APPENDIX. 


588 


of  Linaro,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  II  Rosso  di  Linaro,  hitherto  indict' 
ed  for  larceny. 

20.  Tozzi  Paolo,  son  of  Battista  living,  aged  21,  nati>  e  of  Dozza,  living  in 
Dozza,  unmarried,  peasant,  surnamed  Dei  Tortelli,  hitherto  unindicted. 

21.  Montevecchio  Gaetano,  son  of  Bartolommeo,  agei  18,  native  of  Casola 
Canina,  resident  of  Bubano,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  II  flglio  di  Zar- 
dono,  heretofore  indicted  for  holding  arms. 

22.  Lanzoni  Giuseppe,  son  of  Piotro  living,  aged  22,  native  and  resident 
of  Bubano,  married,  coachman,  alias  II  Bolognose  alias  II  Brigante,  hitherto 
unindicted. 

28.  Beltrami  Domenico,  son  of  Giuseppe  living,  aged  21,  native  of  Dozza, 
resident  of  Imola,  unmarried,  porter,  alius  Liscino  alias  U  flglio  di  Giusafetto 
lungo,  hitherto  unindicted. 

24.  Zanoni  Luigi,  son  of  Giuseppe  living,  aged  21,  native  and  resident  of 
Castel  Bolognese,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  Delia  Lolla,  heretofore  un- 
indicted. 

25.  Kossini  Giuseppe,  son  of  Domenico  Antonio  living,  aged  88,  native  of 
Sant'  Andrea,  resident  of  Felisio,  married,  trader  in  hogs,  surnamed  Luma- 
ca,  hitherto  unindicted, 

26.  Minghetti  Antonio,  son  nf  Giuseppe  living,  ^ed  22,  native  of  Zello, 
resident  of  Borello  near  Castel  Bolognese,  peasant,  unmarried,  surnamed 
Cassiuetta,  hitherto  unindicted. 


resi- 
Cas- 


iident 

!ted. 

iiding 

cted. 

sident 

ituzza, 

iident 


The  following  persons  were  judged  and  condemned  as  equally  guilty : 

27.  Alboni  Sebastiano,  son  of  Giuseppe  living,  aged  83,  native  of  Casola 
Canina,  bricklayer,  surnam'jd  Flglio  di  Presciutto,  resident  of  Imola,  indict- 
ed for  robbery,  was  conv'pted  of  public  violence  and  extortion  of  money, 
but  only  by  circumstantial  evidence,  and  hence  condemned  to  five  years  of 
imprisonment. 

28.  Martelli  Pietro,  son  of  Vincenzo,  aged  26,  native  of  Caccianello,  resi- 
dent of  San  Spirito,  married,  laborer,  surnamed  Cicala,  heretofore  unin- 
dicted, was  convicted  of  publio  violence  and  extortion  of  money,  but  only 
by  circumstantial  evidence,  and  hence  •was  condemned  to  five  years'  im- 

,  prisonment. 

29.  Dal  Pozzo  Vnoenzo,  son  of  Domenico,  deceased,  aged  87,  native  of 
Piedevra,  resident-  of  Imola,  married,  has  children,  country  agent,  surnamed 
II  fattore  Zaella,  hitherto  unindicted,  stands  confessed  of  public  violence 
for  the  purpose  of  extorting  money.  Condemned  to  three  years  on  the 
public  works. 

80.  Munariai  Giovanni,  son  of  Giuseppe,  living,  a,(?ed  18,  native  and  resi- 
dent of  Tosoanella,  hitherto  unindicted,  convicted  by  circumstantial  evi- 
dence of  the  robbery  on  Antonio  Longhini,  condemned  to  ten  years  of 
imprisonrnpnt. 

81 .  PaHucUi  Giovanni,  son  of  Domenico,  living,  aged  25,  native  of  Pira^ 
tello,  resident  of  Borgo  Appio  d'Imola,  unmarried,  laborer,  surnamed  Me^ 
lotto,  hitherto  uninuicted,  convicted  by  circumstantial  evidence  of  the  rob- 
bery f^n  Antonio  Contoli,  condemned  to  ten  years'  imprisonment. 


ft 
584 


APPENDIX. 


(  ( 


82.  Vespignani  Francenco,  son  of  Pietro  of  Riolo,  deceased,  aged  18,  sur« 
named  Mattiolino,  hitherto  unindioted,  confeBsed  to  the  robbery  on  "Do- 
menico  Bassani,  sentenced  to  be  kept  for  three  years  in  s  house  of  cor- 
rection. 

88.  Dall  *0sR0  Domenico,  son  of  Oiuseppe,  deceased,  aged  44,  native  of 
Minaro,  resident  of  Ortodonioo,  married,  surnatned  Mingone  della  Palazza, 
hitherto  unindicted,  convicted  by  circumstantial  evidence  of  holding  and 
possessing  arms,  confessed  to  trading  in  stolen  goods,  condemned  to  throe 
years  on  the  public  works. 

84.  Sangiorgl  Giuseppe,  son  of  Vincenzo,  living,  aged  22,  unmarried,  na- 
tive and  resident  of  Kiolo,  hackdriver,  snrnamed  Fittona,  heretofore  indicted 
for  robbery  and  inflicting  wounds ;  and, 

85.  Zaccarini  Domenico,  son  of  Luigi,  living,  aged  88,  native  and  resident 
of  Biolo,  married,  oartman,  suriitimed  11  Mantovano,  heretofore  condemned 
for  larceny  to  fifteen  days  of  imprisonment  and  one  year  on  the  public 
works. 

The  two  last  were  legally  indicted  for  the  robbery  on  Domenico  Bassani, 
but  the  proofs  being  insufficient  for  their  condemnation,  the  proceedings 
will  be  stayed  in  both  their  cases. 

His  Excellency  Lieutenant  Marshal,  Governor,  Military  and  Civil,  of  Bo- 
logna, taking  into  consideration  the  youthful  age  of  some  of  those  con- 
demned to  death,  the  confession  made  by  them,  the  real  advantages  resulting 
therefrom  to  the  public  safety;  and  again,  in  the  case  of  some,  the  seqoudary 
part  which  they  bore  in  committing  the  abovementioned  crimes,  has  granted 
a  commutation  of  the  sentence  of  death  in  favor  of  the  following  indi- 
viduals : 

1.  Mondelli  Domenico,  to  twenty  years  of  imprisonment. 

2.  Folli  Domenico,  to  fifteen 
8.  Luzzi  Lorenzo,  to  fifteen 

4.  Tozzi  Paolo, 

5.  Montevocchi  Gaetano, 

6.  Lanzoni  Giuseppe, 

7.  Beltrami  Domenico, 

8.  Zannoni  Luigi, 

9.  Minghetti  Antonio, 
10.  Rossini  Giuseppe, 


« 


■  to  ten  years  of  imprisonment. 


OFFICIAL  LETTER  WRITTEN  BY  MONSEIGNEDR  BEDINI,  THE 
DAY  AFTER  UGO  BASSI'S  EXECUTION, 

lb  the  Chmmisswn  of  three  Cardinals  named  by  the  Pope  to  govern  during  hit 

absence. 

Most  Eminsnt  Lords  : 

As  I  have  already  informed  your  Eminences,  the  noted  Ugo  Bassi  was  ar- 
rested in  the  Bosco  Eliseo,  in  the  territory  of  Ferrara,  and  brought  here 
with  the  other  prisoners  of  Garibaldi's  band,  whope  destination  is  Mantua. 


APPENDIX. 


585 


I  now  learn  that,  at  the  instant  of  hia  arrest,  Basal  waa  asked  his  rank,  and 
replied  that  he  was  an  officer  in  Garibaldi'a  service ;  and,  in  fact,  he  waa  in 
arms  when  taken. 

The  ooneequence  of  this  was,  that,  in  accordance  with  the  Uggt  atataria^ 
he  wa9  sentenced  and  shot  {passato  per  U  artni)  along  with  an  Anstriun 
deserter,  the  official  gazette  announcing  him  merely  aa  "  the  noted  Ugo 
Bassi."  Neither  I  nor  His  Eminence  the  archbiohop,  upon  whom  I  have 
jubt  culled,  received  the  slightoRt  intimation  that  thiH  execution  wus  to  take 
place ;  of  which  circumstances  I  inform  your  Eminences,  as  in  duty  bound, 
to  forestall  any  reproach. 

I  have  the  honor,  &o., 

O.  Bkdini, 
Pontifical  Commissarv  Extraordinary. 
Bologna,  August  9th,  1849. 


LETTERS  OF  THE  CHAPLAIN  WHO  ATTENDED  FATHER  BASSI. 


Santa  Maria  dklla  CARn<A, 

Bologna,  August  8,  1849 


.} 


YouK  Eminence  : 

Summoned  at  three-quarters  past  ten  by  a  police  agent  to  proceed  with 
another  priest,  at  eleven  o'clock  on  that  day,  to  the  Villa  Spada,  to  assist 
two  men  whose  names  were  not  given,*  and  who  were  to  undergo  the  pen- 
alty of  deatii  that  day,  I  was  compelled  to  refuse,  in  consequence  of  the 
Office  in  the  church  and  the  Mass  to  be  olianted  at  the  very  hour  of 
eleven.  To  provide  at  the  moment  for  the  pressing  demand,  I  requested,  by 
virtue  of  tlie  power  given  me  by  your  Eminence  on  the  7th  of  June,  the 
Rev.  Ludovico  Pnolo  Casali,  and  my  chaplain,  Cajetan  Baccolini,  who  readily 
undertook  it,  confident  that  1  would  relieve  them,  ob  I  proposed,  at  mid- 
day. 

They  were  conducted  at  eleven  to  the  Villa  Spada  in  a  carriage,  and  re- 
mained unemployed  till  noon.  At  twelve  they  were  introduced  into  the 
solitary  chamber,  in  which  were  detained  Father  Ugo  Bassi,  a  Barnabite,  and 
Giovanni  Livraghi,  of  the  district  Vareae,  province  of  Milan,  brother  of  the 
parish  priest  of  Montunato.  The  priests  above  named  soon  influenced  the 
condemned  to  approach  sacramental  confession  with  resignation  and  truly 
Christian  sentiments.  Both  received  ail  the  comforts  of  religion  possible  in 
such  an  urgent  haste,  evincing  their  earnest  desire  to  receive  sacramental 
communion.  Edifying  indeed,  your  Eminence,  was  the  deportment  of  both, 
and  '..ne  heroic  resignation  of  Father  Bassi  deserves  especial  remembrance. 


*  The  note  ran . 

**  You  will  please  send  at  eleven  o'clock  two  piiosts  to  the  Yilla  Spada,  to  assist  two, 
who  are  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  death  to-day." 

25* 


586 


APPENDIX. 


To  hia  ninoere  ropentanoe  he  added  the  most  candid  retractation,  which  he 
would  have  put  in  writing,  had  it  been  permitted  him.  He  char^red  tha 
prient  Baccolini,  and  it  waa  alno  hoard  by  the  Signor  CaHali,  who  wan  pres- 
ent, to  make  it  known  to  everybody,  and  also  to  reqncKt  the  Father  Provin- 
cial, D.  Paolo  Venturini,  to  have  it  innerted  in  the  papore,  for  tite  puhlio 
edification  and  bin  own  juBtiflcation.  The  foiiowinf^  words  were  permitted, 
by  the  shortness  of  the  time :  "  If  there  in  ever  found,  in  any  writing;  of 
mine,  a  word,  proposition,  or  maxim  whatever,  offensive  to  piety,  propriety, 
religion,  I  intend  and  wish  it  retracted  in  the  most  positive  and  ufflcncious 
manner  ;  and  so,  too,  I  intend  of  any  word  or  npeech  made  in  public  or  pri- 
vate, wishing  to  repair  any  scandal,  and  aid  the  spiritual  good  of  ill;  1)e> 
cause  I  wish  and  desire  to  die  as  a  true  Roman  Catholic.  I  ccaT  ,*id  niy- 
aelf  to  my  beloved  brethren  of  my  order,  my  family,  and  n"  gucl  iuMi  ,'' 
and  he  ordered  to  be  expended  in  Masses  the  ten  scudi  vhl  !.  he  tiad;  tu'o 
of  which  he  gave  to  the  priest  Baccolini  for  Musses,  and  tl>ooti.-  :••  if,  which 
he  thought  might  be  money  sent  him  yesterda  by  1  i;  ister,  ati  1  now  in 
the  hands  of  the  Austrian  Auditor,  and  which  he  •^■.',  <i  fjosit  in  the  pnlice- 
offlco,  when  drawn  by  the  said  priest,  aliould  bo  given  iialf  to  the  Sa'risty  of 
Santa  Maria  della  Carita,  and  half  to  the  Barnabite  Futiier>«,  for  MasAut)  as 
above. 

In  this  resignation  he  remained  till  one  o^clock  in  the  afternoon,  when 
the  condemned  were  brought  near  the  porticoes  of  the  Certosa  and  shot, 
constantly  attended  by  the  abovenamed  priests,  wlio  furthermore  testify 
that  they  heard  from  the  lips  of  Father  Bassi  the  following  expressions :  "I 
beg  pardon  of  all,  I  pardon  all.  I  urge  all  to  bo  faithful  to  religion,  and  I  re- 
joice to  be  able  to  die  under  the  patronage  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  San 
Luca." 

This  I  now,  in  all  spiritual  joy,  communicate  to  your  Eminence,  and,  with 
the  aHKiatant  priests  who  sign  with  me,  kiss  the  sacred  purple,  and  declare 
ourselves 

Your  Eminence's  most  humble  servants, 

AoosTiNo  Kicoi,  Parish  Prient. 
Don  Ludovioo  Pablo  Casali. 
Don  Gaktano  Baccolini. 

To  his  Eminence,  the  Mon<'- 

Bev.  Cardinal  Chables  Oppizoni, 

Archbishop  qfSologna, 


Boi'OQNA,  Santa  Maria  della  CAsrrA,  { 
Augvst  8,  1849.  ) 

Most  Eeverend  Father  Superior: 

I  hasten  to  fulfil  a  most  mournful  duty,  by  informing  your  Reverence  of 
the  recent  death  of  your  fellow-religious,  Father  Ugo  Bassi,  who,  as  you 
will  see  by  the  gazette  of  this  city,  was  shot  at  twelve  o'clock  to-day.  I 
cannot  sufficiently  praise  the  patience  and  resignation  with  which,  in  the 


J,,  . 


APPENDIX. 


687 


•hort  time  allo\.  A  him,  he  propArod  for  death  ;  Mid  I  ofm  tn  ftU  trnth  and 
lincerity  aspnro  you  thut  ho  fulfllled  all  th«  Jutiea  of  'i<?ion,  making  i 
good  >  onfoMion,  and  receivini;  all  other  Hpiritiial  coiiiforta  poDHible,  in  nuch  a 
siiortanil  inflanoholy  respite,  with  seruimputu  of  th«  hi^lientaiid  inont  exem- 
^  '  iry  •dirtoaliuu.  Father  Baaoi  cspetMaliy  ohar>?cd  iheconsoionoeof  the  under- 
bipned  his  confuanor,  to  it-'iure  the  Very  Kev.  Fttfher  Frovitioial,  D.  Paolo  Ven- 
turini,  or  liis  representative,  a»  i.'^  was  absent  trom  liologi'u,  of  the  sincerity 
of  hia  BeniunentR,  and  lo  declare  that  he  never  took  any  par  ir.  the  robWer- 
108  and  murdora,  even  of  these  lutCHt  times  ;  but  that,  as  far  uh  iv«  oould,  he 
had  sought  to  prevent  nil  {vWHibli*  in;ury;  t»nd  that  he  enrl>o^  '■  desired 
thut  throutth  the  Father  Proviiicial,  or  .umo  other,  there  Hl\(>uld  be  ,  Ushed 
in  the  publiu  papera  h\»  niont  clear  und  uolenm  retracttitiou,  heMoeuli  'Hr  tiM 
Father  Provincial  himwelf  to  deciwra  as  follows  to  uil.  The  •*  am  ither 
Bassi's  own  words :  "  If  there  i»  ever  found  in  any  writing 
word,  propottition,  or  maxim  whatever,  otfensivo  to  piety,  propri 
I  intend  and  wish  it  retracted  in  the  most  positive  and  llcnci^ 
and  so,  too,  I  intend  of  any  word  or  speech  made  in   imblio 


nin»     any 

,  relijrion, 

mann<^r ; 

|.riVM    ■; 

wishing  to  repair  every  scandal  I  r'\uy  huvo  given,  and  aid  in  the  Kf>iriti<«l 

He 

Ilia 

e  ex- 

imd 


good  of  all,  because  I  desire  and  ^\»h  to  die  a  true  Kamun  Oat)u>l)< 
commended  himself  to  his  bolovui    brethren  of  his  religious  ord< 
relatives  and  all  good  men,  and  dir  ctod  that  ten  scudi,  that  he  hu' 
ponded  in  fifty  Masses  for  the  repose  of  hia  soul,  and  that  of  his  fm 
of  his  comrade.  Captain  Giovanni  Liv  ''iighi. 

Before  giving  up  his  soul  to  God,  oi.  arriving  at  the  place  of  executi    •,  ho 
repeated  the  following  expressions,  fix  ng  his  eyes  on  the  sanctuary  >.      an 
Luca,  which  he  continually  regarded :  "I  beg  pardon  of  all,  I  pardo      .11, 
1  recommend  fidelity  to  religion,  and  rejoice  to  be  able  to  expire  in    ■■     '\ 
under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed  Vir^'in  of  San  Luca."     It  was  hif- 
to  put;  in  writing  a  more  extended  retractation,  but  paper  was  refused 
He,  however,  ratified  what  he  said  in  pn  ^ence  of  two  priests,  most  wor 
of  all  credit.    All  this  I  have  already  writ  'n  to  the  most  eminent  Cardii.  •  - 
archbishop,  to  whom  I  showed  the  propriety,  utility,  and  necessity  of  giving 
it  public  notice,  for  the  example  of  all,  and  iu  happy  memory  of  him  who 
wished  to  end  his  life  in  such  full  sentimeni^  of  religion. 

In  me  you  will  ever  find,  as  in  the  confobsor  of  the  deceased  and  the  as- 
sistaut  priest,  a  true  and  devoted  servant. 

Your  humble  s  -rvanta. 

Ago."  -ino  Kicci,  Parish  Priest. 
D,  L  Dovico  Paolo  Cabali. 
D.  Gaktano  Baccolim,  Confessor, 
To  the  Very  Kev.  Father 

AxsssANDRo  Maori, 

Superior  of  the  Barnabites 

at  Santa  Litcia^  Bohgrui. 


588 


APPENDIX. 


RESCRIPT  OF  M0N8IGN0RE  GAETANO  BEDINI, 

Commissary  Extraordinary  qf  the  Fhur  Legations,  and  Pro-Legate  of  Bologna, 
endorsed  on  the  request  to  insert  in  the  Oazzetta  of  Bologna  the  Retractation  of 
Father  Ugo  Bassi,  a  Bamabite,  shot  on  the  8/A  of  August,  1849. 

The  letter  of  the  pastor  of  La  Carita  may  be  published  on  obtaining  the 
consent  of  the  Austrian  military  authority,  which  is  actually  invested  with 
extraordinary  powers  in  the  Four  Legations,  and  which  principally,  or  rather 
exclusively  has  been  judge  in  this  case. 

6.  Bbdini. 


LETTER  Of  THE  SUPERIOR  OF  THE  BARNABITES. 

BoLOONA,  August  12, 1849. 
Rev.  Sir 

I  regret  to  inform  you  that,  in  spite  of  all  my  endeavors  to  insert  in  the 
Oazzetta  of  Bologna  the  account  of  the  edifying  death  of  Father  Bassi,  I 
have  not  yet  succeeded.  His  Eminence  and  Monsignor  Bedini  consent,  and 
desire  that  it  may  be  made  public;  but  the  political  censor,  Monsignor 
Oamberini,  does  not  think  himself  at  liberty  to  allow  its  appearance,  es- 
pecially in  the  Oazzetta,  without  an  explicit  approval  of  the  authorities,  as 
he  states  in  writing,  and  with  more  clearness  in  words,  without  the  appro- 
bation of  the  Austrian  police,  which  he  foresees  will  easily  be  obtained. 
To-morrow,  however,  the  said  Monsignor  Gambcrini  will  have  an  interview 
with  the  Commissary  Extraordinary  of  these  four  provinces,  Monsignor 
Bedini ;  but  I  foresee  that  they  will  come  to  no  definite  conclusion.  If  you 
see  any  means  of  attaining  our  end,  you  will  confer  a  great  favor  on  me  by 
letting  me  know. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  take  this  opportunity  to  express  for  myself  and  all  my 
fellow-religious,  the  sentiments  of  our  lively  gratitude  for  the  touching  proof 
of  zeal  given  by  you  in  all  tliat  concerns  the  honor  and  name  of  our  poor 
Father  Bassi  and  us  his  fellow-religious. 

In  these  unalterable  sentiments,  I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself. 
Your  Rcvoronco's 

Most  humble  servant, 

D.  Alessandro  Maori, 

Superior  qfSta.  Lucia, 

To  the  Rev.  Aoostino  Ricoi, 

Pastor  ofSta.  Maria  della  Oarita. 


-y    7  , 


-„..„^y, 


APPENDIX. 


589 


EEMAEKS  OF  THE  EDITOR. 

These  documents  reached  Mr.  dk  Coukoy  just  on  the  eve  of  his  departure, 
and  he  alludes  briefly  to  Ihem  in  his  chapter  on  the  Nunciature.  To  any 
impartial  reader  they  show, 

1.  That  the  Austrians  held  Bologna  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  that  Monsignor 
Bedini  had  really  no  power  in  Bologna.* 

2.  That  the  fifty  men  shot  were  mostly  banditti,  condemned  for  robbery, 
murder,  rape,  Ac,  and  consequently  no  martyrs  to  the  cause  of  liberty. 

8.  That  Father  Bassi  and  his  companion  were  taken  as  oflBlcers  of  Garibal- 
di's corps,  and  as  such  shot. 

4.  That  Father  Bassi's  execution  was  done  in  great  haste  and  privacy, 
without  the  knowledge  of  Cardinal  Oppizoni  or  Monsignor  Bedini. 

5.  That  Bassi  never  was  degraded,  consequently  did  not  undergo  the 
slight  scraping  of  the  thumb  and  finger ;  and  that  to  represent  him  and  the 
forty-nine  others  as  being  flayed  alive !  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the 
principle  of  the  story  of  the  "  Three  Black  Crows." 

t.  That  Bassi  died  a  Christian,  repenting  his  unpriestly  conduct,  retracting 
all  that  he  said  against  Catholic  faith. 

7.  That  Monsignor  Bedini,  Cardinal  Oppizoni,  and  the  Superior  of  the 
Barnabites,  endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to  have  the  retractation  of  Father  Bassi 
published. 


*  Extract  from  a  ITote  presented  hy  the  Sardinian  Plenipotentiaries,  Cavour  and 
Villamarina,  to  the  French  and  English  Ministers  at  the  Peace  Congress, 

"  The  Legations  have  been  occupied  by  Austrian  troopa  since  1849.  Tiie  state  of 
siege  and  martial  law  have  been  in  vigor  since  that  time,  withoat  interruption.  The 
Pontifical  government  only  exists  in  name,  since  above  its  legates  an  Austrian 
general  takes  the  tiVa  and  eoeeroiset  thefimctiom  of  civil  and  military  governor, 

"  Paeib,  March  2Tth,  1856." 


'.'.WjW  ■ 


;"  "-"^tyi"^'   ■■ "  ,  f -■;.'::'' ''•.'■>'^"""'""--*,-*  l"-?^^!^.  r^."''^" 


590 


APPENDIX. 


VI. 

DOCUMENTS  RELATING  TO  MONSIGNOE  BEDINI'S  MISSION 
TO  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

[OOP Y . ] 

Leoation  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amebique,  ) 
Borne,  U  19  Mara,  1858.  S 

Le  souseign^,  Charge  d' Affaires  des  Etats-Unis  d'Ara^rique,  a  I'honneur 
d'aoouser  reception  k  la  communication  da  17  Mars  de  Son  Eminence  Bme. 
le  Cardinal  Sdcr^taire  d'Etat,  qui  lui  annonce  le  prochain  depart  de  Mon- 
seigneur  B^dini,  Arohevdque  de  Thdbes,  et  Nonce  Apostoliqae  prds  la  Cour 
Imp^riale  du  Brcsil,  charg^  d'une  mission  complimeutaire  auprds  du  Presi- 
dent des  Etats-Unis  d'Am^rique.  Le  soassigne  a  rcQU  cette  intelligence 
aveo  le  plus  vif  int6r6t  et  il  s'empressera  de  la  communiquer  k  son  gouvor- 
nement.  Assurant  d'avance  Son  Eminence  Bme.  de  la  reception  cordiale 
que  Monscigneur  B^dini  re^evra  de  son  gouvernement,  et  de  Textr^me 
plabir  qu'^prouvera  le  President  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amdrique  de  cette  favo- 
rable marque  des  sentimens  du  Saint  P^re,  il  profit  de  cette  occasion  pour 
lui  t^moigner  Pexpression  de  sa  plus  haute  consideration. 

(Sign^)  Cass. 

A  Son  Eminence  Bme. 

Le  Cardinal  Antonelli, 

secretaire  d'Etat. 


[Copt.— No.  56.] 

Lbqation  of  the  Uioted  States,  ) 
Borne,  March  20, 1858.  t 

Hon.  Edwabd  Everett, 

Secretary  of  State; 
Sib: 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  translation  of  a  communication 
which  I  have  just  received  from  Cardinal  Antonelli,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  reverend  gentleman,  Monseigneur  Bedini,  therein  mentioned,  is  a 
prelate  of  high  standing  in  the  Catholic  Church,  and  distinguished  for  his 
learning  and  attainments.  He  has  filled  several  important  posts  in  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  departments  of  this  government  under  the  present  Pope, 
as  well  as  his  predecessor,  Gregory  the  Sixteenth.  His  oflEloial  designation 
is  Monseigneur  Bedini,  Archbishop  of  Thebes,  and  Apostolic-nuncio  to  the 
Court  of  the  Brazils. 

The  mission  thus  conferred  upon  him  is  a  new  and  additional  teBtimonial 


APPENDIX. 


m 


of  the  highly  favorable  and  fViendly  sentiments  entertained  by  His  Holiness 
Pins  IX.  towards  the  government  and  institutions  of  the  United  States. 
Monseigneur  Bedini  will  probably  arrive  in  Washington  within  eight  or  ten 
days  subsequent  to  the  receipt  of  this  dispatch.  He  will  remain  there,  I 
understand,  but  a  few  days. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)  Lewis  Gam. 


THE    END. 


•    •  •  • 

>•  •    •  t 

>■     •  .  • 

k  •  *     •  •  •  t 


•  •  •  •  I 

•  •  I  * 

•  •     •   •  o  • 


fist  at  Munhm. 


>|«  John,  Apb.  of  N.  York 20  copies. 

<f'F.  P.  Kenriok,  Apb.  Bait 10  " 

V  J.  B.,  Abp.  Cin 6  " 

4*  L.  de  Goesbriand,  Bishop  of  Burlington 24  " 

V  John,  Bp.  of  Brooklyn 12  •* 

^I*  John,  Bp.  of  Albany 12  " 

•i*  Michael,  Bp.  of  Pittsburg 12  " 

»i«  A.,  Bp.  of  Cleveland 12  " 

^  J.  B.  F.,  Bp.  of  Boston 12  •• 

A  Andrew,  Bp.  of  Little  Rock 6  " 

Rev.  John  Lewis,  Clifton 12  " 

Franciscan  Convent,  Eilioottsville ,.    6  " 

Rev.  G.  A.  J.  Wilson,  St.  Dominick's  Church,  Washington....     6  *• 

Rev.  Thomas  Martin 4  " 

Ladies' Sacred  Heart,  Detroit 6  " 

Villa  Nova  College 8  " 

Rev.  M.  Aiig,  Washington 1  " 

Rev.  Mr.  Wirzfeld,  Elizabeth,  N.  J 2  " 

Rev.  T.  Joyce,  Coldspring 6  ** 

Rev.  F.  Fusseder,  Oslikosh S  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Cumminge 1  " 

St.  Patrick's  Rosary  Library 4  " 

Rev.  V.  Beaudevin 1  " 

Rev.  G.  R.Brophy 1  " 

Rev.  A.  J.  Donnelly 2  " 

Rev.  K  S.  Briardy 8  « 

Rev.  Z.  Druon,  East  Rutland 1  " 

Rev.  C.  Rehre,  Wis 1  " 

Rev.  M.  Whitty,  Scranton .-. 1  " 

Rev.  B.  J.  McQuaid.  Newark 4  " 

St  Patrick's  Rosary  Society,  Newark 6  " 

Young  Men's  Catholic  Association,  Newark 2  " 

Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Lyman,  Baltimore 2  " 

Edward  Dunigan  &  Brother 160  " 

John  Murphy  &  Co 100  '• 

Patrick  Donohoe , 100  " 

Terence  Donnelly,  Esq 10  *' 

D.  Devlin 10  " 

Andrew  Carrigan « 10  " 

W.  J.Sullivan 1  " 

George  A.  Rcmsal , 1  " 

P.  W.  Poliard 1  " 


w 


694 


A  Rt  Rev.  James  R.  Bayley,  Bishop  of  Newark 10  copies. 

4*  Peter  PaqI  Lefevere,  Detroit 12 

ii«  M.  J.  Spalding,  Bp.  Louisville 12, 

A  M.  De  St  Palais^  Ba  Vincennes 6 

Ai  George  A.  Carrell,  Bp.  CoTingtoQ 6 

Rev.  L.  Tucker 2 

Rev.  D.  Edward  Lyman,  Baltimore 1 

Rev.  J.  McMahon 1 

Rev.  John  MoElroy 2 

Rev.  E.  Auhri) 3 

University  of  St.  Louis 24 

Georgetown  College 12 

Mt.  9t.  Mary's  College 12 

St.  Francis  Xavier's  College,  N.  Y 4 

O.  A.  Brownson,  L,D.D. 2 

L.R  Binsse,  Roman  Consul G 

E.  J.  O'Brien,  New  Haven 3 

John  Gaynor 1 

Bernard  Casserly 1 

C.  E.  Shea 2 

J.  M.  Coughlin......... 1 

Mariano  Velazquez 1 


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